


Pokemon Diamond and Pearl / My Hero Academia: We Will Be Heroes

by YourLittleSylveon



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Action, Anime, Ash Ketchum Is A Dork, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Fanfiction, Gen, I don't actually know if there will be any romance, I removed the tags for now, Midoriya Izuku Needs A Hug, My Hero Academia - Freeform, Oops, Pokemon - Freeform, accidentally epic, also sad horror oops, but if there is I'll add them back, guys stop throwing yourselves at danger, if you're annoying, midoriya the precious bby boi, or boku no hero academia, pls forgive, there's another way, this shouldve been humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-07-07 14:09:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15909813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourLittleSylveon/pseuds/YourLittleSylveon
Summary: (Pokemon x My Hero Academia)(Alternative title: Pokemon Diamond and-THE DAY HAS COOOOOOME!)Something is amiss with Ash's world, and he finds the Legendary Pokemon once again turning to him for help. However, unlike his previous adventures, he goes to a completely new world--one with people having powers just as wacky and various as Pokemon! Villains are involved, unlikely team-ups are made, and as it turns out, Ash and Midoriya, Dawn and Uraraka, and Brock and Aizawa can all relate to each other on a spiritual level.But who is this new "Sensei" if Shigaraki hasn't taken the mantle yet and All for One is in jail? And what will happen when Ash and friends inevitably have to come home?And, the biggest question of all......why is Gible so attached to Bakugou???





	1. Okay, so Kurogiri's a Bitch

**Author's Note:**

> (A/N: Yay, no one reads these! But I'mma make one anyway! If you are reading this, you'll know that I collaborated with my little sister to make this. We were both just kinda fooling around while on vacation when suddenly ideas happened, so we made this. It wasn't originally supposed to be serious but it kinda happened anyway and it is now, so have fun or smth. Love y'all bai)

_"So this is the world of fluctuating strength?"_

"I want it gone."

_"And you want me to invade it? I know I have a Warp Gate quirk, but how am I to invade a whole different universe? Even this is a bit much for me."_

"You have the coordinates. It should be almost no problem. Their barrier is weakening anyway."

_"You do realize if I do this, we will all cease to exist in the end. That includes you."_

"So? Humans suck and deserve death. Just get on with it."

_"...very well. Sensei..."_

* * *

Palkia and Dialga had almost never agreed upon something up until they had met Ash and his Pikachu. Ash was a strange human who had convinced Darkrai he was a friend. He also seemed to have gained the trust of Giratina and Arceus, an impressive feat. Since their last battle, however, something felt strange and off.

When Palkia was injured, it had ignored the nagging feeling in its chest at first, but since it's recovered, something still felt wrong. A tear in the universes, or perhaps the slightest ripple of change. Could Dialga give Palkia any insight on what happened?

Palkia reared back, opened its impressive maw and roared, opening up a bright magenta-purple portal. When it flew through, its surroundings brightened considerably. Dialga should be here soon.

When the familiar blue-clad quadruped Temporal Pokemon finally revealed itself from within its own portal, Palkia sensed something different about it as well.

Dialga wasn't okay. Physically, it was fine, but still something felt off and Palkia couldn't place what.

Dialga told him: it had sensed another timeline. One completely out of its own control, which scared it.

Palkia knew something was wrong then. Arceus was still missing, and Giratina would be no help in this situation. They needed someone, or several someones, to help them identify what the cause of the issue was in order to maintain the balance.

* * *

He couldn't breathe. He could barely see. There was no sound, and he felt nothing at his fingertips. 

He opened his eyes. Stars, the most beautiful galaxies he had ever seen. It was a gorgeous sight to behold, all of the stars and colors blending together in perfect harmony.

"Pika!"

His best friend was beside him, and suddenly he was down on Earth with the rest of his friends.

"Hey, Ash! Sunyshore's not too far! You've only got one Badge to go and then it's off to the Pokemon League!" Brock reminded him.

He grinned. "Alright! I can't wait to get my last Badge!"

"Pikapi!" came the cheer of his buddy.

Suddenly, the world disintegrated again, right before his eyes. The purple dust surrounding them made it painfully clear. He didn't know where he was anymore, and his friends were suddenly gone.

He was back at the galaxies, but something was wrong. Star after star was being snuffed out suddenly, and in a moment, he noticed something completely different. Golden, misty eyes.

An inhuman figure took its dry, pale-as-light, bony hand and suddenly had several of his friends by the throat.

Dawn's skin crumbled first. Her eyes were full of pain and terror, and she extended her hand slowly, shakily, weakly. "A-Ash... h-h-help...!"

Brock had been struggling, but it only made it worse. He was crying, and so was Dawn.

Then his friends turned into dust, and Ash could do nothing to save them. Next came Pikachu. The figure pulled the fake hand off of his face and gave Ash a chapped, broken, maniacal grin. Pikachu was horrified and unable to move, but like his other friends, Pikachu cried in an attempt to get free. Its tail went limp, its paw reached out for Ash.

This time he couldn't sit there and do nothing. He ran forward, eyes burning with the stinging pain of tears, heart sinking and stomach flipping somersaults. "NO! LET GO OF MY FRIEND, YOU MONSTER! PIKACHUUUU!"

Ash was sprinting in place, unable to get any closer to Pikachu. The inhuman human walked closer with ease, placing the fake hand back on his face. Ash only then noticed the other fake hands gripping aggressively at the villain's clothes. The villain's eye peeked out behind the one on his face. "So, you're the one they sent."

"Sensei wants you dead."

The villain reached out a hand, all fingers flexing and extending as wide as they can. It was slow, but Ash was suddenly unable to move. He tried to pull away. The villain's fingers started to close slowly around his neck, one by one.

One.

Ash gripped at the villain's wrist, trying to pull it away. The villain grinned.

Two.

The villain's hands were so freezing, Ash could swear he was getting frostbite. For some reason, his chilling touch burned him.

Three.

Pikachu tried to shock the villain, but his cheeks were suddenly crumbling away in squarish chunks. Crimson liquid was staining Pikachu's vibrant fur. Ash sobbed, reaching for his friend.

Four.

One more finger and Ash would be...

Pikachu was suddenly almost dust. Its tail was disintegrating quickly, and its tears were staining its own remains.

Five.

Pikachu was gone. Ash's throat burned from the outside in, and he found himself unable to scream. He tried so hard, he scraped at the dry villain's hands, but Ash couldn't do anything to stop him.

And then he woke up.

* * *

Brock was consoling a sobbing Dawn at the campfire when they heard a scream and lightning shock from Ash's tent. A medium-well Ash Ketchum and his guilty lightning friend staggered out of the smoking tent and hugged each other dearly, tears lining their own eyes.

Brock's face hardened. "You too?"

Ash was suddenly not fried anymore and he wiped his tears with the heel of his hand, sniffing once. "Y-yeah... I-I guess you guys had a nightmare, too?"

Dawn wiped her tears and turned to face Ash, nodding. "T-that man... h-he had you guys... a-and then he had Piplup... w-what  _was_  he?!"

Ash froze in his place, glancing at Pikachu. He gave his Pikachu a teary-eyed affectionate pat on the head and Pikachu melted into his Trainer's hand in a far different manner than Brock had ever seen before in all his years traveling with the young teen.

"I was at a Pokemon Center, working on some Pokemon," Brock relayed to his friends. "When we were suddenly attacked by the weird hand guy."

" _Bad touch man,"_  was a comment made by Ash under his breath, so quiet Brock barely caught it with the crackling fire in the way.

"What?"

Ash turned away, ears turning somewhat pink. "Nothing. The last time we had such horrible nightmares, though, and things that were all so synced like this..."

"Something terrible happened?" Brock finished for him. "As in, 'Legendary terrible'?"

Ash nodded. "So where's the Legendary Pokemon this time?"

Right on cue, a yellow, blue, and pink light encircled the three respective Trainers. Azelf appeared itself first, then Uxie, and then Mesprit.

"Uxie?" Brock breathed, heart pounding. No matter how many times he went on Legendary adventures with Ash, he could never get used to how breathtaking the Legendary Pokemon assisting them really were. "W-what is it?"

"Do you need our help?" Ash asked Azelf.

"We're ready!" Dawn told Mesprit, face full of resolve.

Two bright lights, one red and one pale gold, appeared above their little campfire, attracting the flames so that they would grow to increase visibility. It wasn't necessary in the case of Cresselia, but Darkrai was barely visible in the night, had it not been for its white, billowing head... thing.

"Darkrai!" Ash exclaimed.

"And Cresselia? That's new," Brock wondered aloud. "But you two are enemies, aren't you?"

"Danger," came Darkrai's foreboding, deep voice. "Earth in peril."

"Peril?" Dawn quivered. "A-again?"

"New world..." Darkrai spoke. "Help..."

The Trainers glanced at each other worriedly. "Help?"

"Of course we'll help," Ash told his friends. "After all, the world's at stake! But how do we save everyone this time?"

"Wait, Darkrai! Can you tell us more?" Brock asked.

Uxie flew in front of Brock, touching his forehead with the red gem on its own forehead. Images flashed before Brock's eyes. Dialga and Palkia, the Earth being torn to bits, his friends disappearing, and...

...another universe taking Earth's place?

Uxie pulled away. "W-what...? Is it Team Galactic again?" Brock asked urgently.

"What? Brock, what'd you see?" Dawn exclaimed.

"Our world, gone... but another in its place. And there were Dialga and Palkia, and you guys were all gone... but about this other world. Is it Team Galactic? Wasn't that their goal from the start?" Brock repeated.

Darkrai closed its only visible eye. "No. Another world will invade."

Dawn gasped sharply, but quietly. "Another world will..."

"Invade? Oh no..." Ash finished.

"How do we stop it?" Brock asked.

Darkrai opened its eye and exchanged satisfied, yet grim looks with Cresselia. "Spear Pillar," Darkrai said finally. "Meet Dialga and Palkia. Your mission starts now."

"Our mission...?"

With that, there was a flash of light, and suddenly they were in front of a misty figure.

* * *

"So, you're the ones they're using to save this pathetic planet?" Ash recognized those eyes far too well.

Pikachu jumped off his shoulder, cheeks sparking and sharp teeth bared. "Piiii-ka-CHU!" Pikachu threatened, growling.

"Who are you?! Get out of our way!" Ash's hand flew instinctively to his belt, grabbing at a random Poke Ball; he didn't care to identify whose based on its position.

Piplup jumped in front of Dawn and Brock threw out a Poke Ball, sending out Croagunk. "Croagunk, use Brick Break!" Brock commanded instantly.

"Piplup, Whirlpool!"

"Pikachu, Volt Tackle!"

The Pokemon all launched themselves at the strange mist-like creature, but the dark fog extended itself. No one could see.

It was suffocating, just like in the dream. Ash couldn't see or breathe, he couldn't feel anything, not even the ground, and there was absolutely no sound.

_**"Just try to save your friends. You don't belong in this world, either. Sensei will be pleased."** _

Again with the weird Sensei thing. Ash grabbed at nothing, and suddenly he was falling. It was daytime, and Brock, Dawn, Piplup, and Croagunk were no longer anywhere in sight. The mist man was gone too. It had taken Ash a few minutes to realize he was falling through the sky.

He held on tight to his cap and looked up. A large body of water hurtled itself right at him. Ash's eyes widened.

_He was going to die here, all alone, in a world he didn't understand. He didn't even have a chance to go to Spear Pillar to officially begin the mission with Dialga and Palkia, and his friends were nowhere in sight. He had no clue where Pikachu was, either, and he was falling headfirst into the water. The impact alone could kill him._

"Look out,  _ribbit_!"

Something strange, thick, and kinda slobbery wrapped itself around Ash's waist, and before he knew it, he had been hoisted to land somewhat ungracefully, but not too roughly, either. The big, long... appendage turned out to be the tongue of a strange green-haired girl with big, round eyes, abnormally large hands, a seemingly unnaturally wide mouth _with a long Politoed tongue lolling out of it_  and a green bodysuit with two, long, vertical stripes going down either side on her front. She also had a belt, and some strange goggles on her head, and she looked kind of monotone with her expression. Ash couldn't read it no matter how hard he tried (though he was never very good, so he wasn't even surprised).

"Are you alright, _ribbit_?" the girl asked, placing a finger on her chin and tilting her head to the side.

Ash nodded. "D-did _you_ save me?"

She responded with a single nod. "I did. I also saved what I think is your little yellow friend...?" She turned around to reveal Ash's beloved friend since his tenth birthday.

Ash had lit up as though he was experiencing Christmas for the first time. A huge weight had relieved itself off of his shoulders and he had only realized he had run forward and skidded on his knees to hug his favorite buddy a few seconds after the fact.

" _Pikachu!"_  Ash exclaimed, eyes brimming with tears. "I was scared! I-I didn't see you or the others! They've gotta be around here somewhere, right?"

Pikachu pulled away and gave Ash a lost look. "...piii-ka?"

Pikachu's grave tone made Ash realize Pikachu had thought the others were with  _him._  Ash's eyes widened. "N-no... no, no, no. This can't be happening, where are they!? W-we've gotten separated before, but this... this is a whole different situation."

"Excuse me," the frog girl said from behind him, startling Ash (as he had almost forgotten she was there in his relief of finding Pikachu) and prompting him to turn around. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but what exactly are you talking about? Is your quirk understanding animals?"

Ash quirked an eyebrow. " 'Quirk'?" He took a look at the girl's face again before gasping. "Oh! Right! Thank you for saving me, but how'd you do it? You, er... were alone, and you didn't seem to have any Pokemon on you."

This was a different world, but different worlds also had Pokemon, right? Was that... not how it worked?

"What's a Pokemon?"

Apparently not. Ash sighed. "Never mind. But can you answer my question?"

The girl nodded. "Of course. My name is Tsuyu Asui, but you can call me Tsuyu-chan. My quirk is Frog, and that means I have the physiological needs and abilities of a frog, such as my long tongue, my high jumping, my cold-bloodedness, and my great swimming ability."

Ash glanced at Pikachu warily. "So... it's like a superpower? E-explain it to me; assume I know nothing about quirks."

"I guess you could say that it's like a superpower, _ribbit_. If you don't know for some reason, we humans have evolved to gain strengths and powers that were once considered superhuman. We began calling everyone's individual powers quirks. Some people, however, are born without quirks, _ribbit_. Those unfortunate few are about 20% out of 100 in the whole world, which means they're considered disabled, or a minority, and are unfortunately treated as though they're worse than those with quirks. It's unfortunate, the nature of humans these days,  _ribbit."_

Ash nodded slowly, taking it all in. "So Pokemon don't exist, then?"

Tsuyu shook her head. "I don't know what you mean by 'Pokemon,' but no, they don't."

Ash sighed and faced Pikachu before standing with a tall resolve. "I've gotta find my friends. They don't know how this world works, and we have to find a way to regroup.

Tsuyu spoke up. "If I may--er..." She found herself searching for Ash's name.

"Oh!" Ash realized to his embarrassment that he had forgotten to introduce himself. Pikachu took the opportunity to climb onto Ash's shoulder, like he did most times when Ash introduced himself to someone. "I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town! This is my buddy, Pikachu. Actually, he's a good example of a Pokemon. Pikachu's an Electric-type, for instance."

"Electric?" Tsuyu asked, placing a finger on her chin again. "How cute. Pikachu-chan seems a lot like a classmate of mine. So, Ash-chan, if you're looking for your friends, I'd like to help you. I don't quite understand what you're going through right now, but I'm sure if we take you to a hero, you'll be able to find your friends in no time."

Ash frowned slightly, confused. " 'Hero'? What do you mean?"

"You don't know this either?"

"Ehh..." Ash blushed, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, I know what a hero is, kinda, but pretend I don't. How do heroes work with 'quirks' or whatever?"

"Well, a popular profession became hero work ever since quirks have been popping up. Many people want to be heroes, but not so many can cut it anymore. The best of the best have been trying to save whomever they could, but ever since our No. 1 Hero retired due to injury, we've been in disarray. Still, I'm sure if we take you to All Might, he'll know how to help you and get in contact with other agencies."

Ash glanced at Pikachu and nodded. "Okay, that'd be a big help! Thanks Asu--"

"Call me Tsuyu."

Ash chuckled at himself. "R-right. Thanks, Tsuyu-san."

"It's no problem, Ash-chan."

Ash reached for his belt, picking out Staraptor instinctively, but as it turned out, his Poke Balls weren't there. None of them, save for Pikachu's, remained on his belt. Ash paled. "W-what...? Wait a minute..." He kept groping around, searching for any sign of his other friends. He had hoped Staraptor would've been able to help him scope out where his friends were, but no one was there. None of his Poke Balls were where they should've been.

"What're you looking for, Ash-chan?"

"M-My Poke Balls..."

Tsuyu blanched. "Your... what?"

"My Poke Balls!" Ash exclaimed louder. "They look like this--" To that, he pulled out Pikachu's Poke Ball and jabbed a finger at it-- "and they have my other Pokemon inside them! Without my Pokemon beside me, I'm helpless! I'm lucky I've got Pikachu, but I don't have a quirk like you do! I can't protect myself!"

Tsuyu's expression didn't change, but Ash knew she understood the weight of the situation now. "Okay. I'll take you to my high school, then."

"Your high school?"

"U.A. Academy, if you don't know, is chock-full of pro heroes. All Might works there since he retired as a hero, so he's one of my teachers, too. Since All Might was the top hero before retirement, he's probably still got connections and good ways to reunite you with your friends without running into villains, _ribbit_."

"Villains?"

The black mist man-thing tugged in Ash's brain. Then came the man with the hands. Ash's eyes widened.

"Oh no... the mist man. W-what if he hurt them?!"

Tsuyu's eyes widened and suddenly she wasn't so stoic anymore. "W-what...?"

"T-there was a black misty guy! He had gold eyes and I think I saw a metal brace, but other than that, it was just black fog!" Ash exclaimed.

Tsuyu's oversized hands lifted up to her mouth. "N-no... No, if Kurogiri got you guys, then this is serious. We have to go  _now._ " She didn't bother trying to hide her fear--or rather, her horror.

Ash's heart began to race, now that the one girl with superpowers whom he could trust was suddenly afraid of the man he had earlier encountered. None of the Pokemon's attacks seemed to do anything, though, which was strange.

Was the mist even part of the person's body?

He couldn't think about that now. His priority was finding Dawn, Brock, and everyone else.

* * *

Dawn's head pounded. One second, she wasn't able to breathe, and the next she felt herself in a strange, oddly precarious position. When she opened her eyes, she realized she had been lying on top of a roof.

Right on the edge, teetering and about to fall.

She gasped harshly and scooted back as far as she could to the center of the roof, the tallest point of the building she saw, but also, as far as she was concerned, the safest out of everywhere else. Holding her chest and breathing heavily, she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"H-h-help!" Dawn cried. "I don't wanna diiiieeee!" With that, her tears flowed freely. Fortunately, her distress didn't last too long.

Someone had (luckily for her) heard her cry for help and come swooping to her rescue. "Don't worry! Chargebolt is on the case!"

Chargebolt?

Suddenly, Dawn felt herself being lifted gracefully by the hands of a boy around her age. The boy was a vivid blonde with some strange black zig-zag pattern on his bangs, and his golden eyes matched that of his hair, but that's about where the yellow stopped. Everything else he wore was black and white, and seemed to be mostly casual-type of wear, although what caught Dawn's eyes was the boy's off-white antenna earpiece. Why did he need it and what was it doing in his costume?

The boy gave her a charming smile. "Don't worry young lady, I've got you. Just try to hold on tight, okay?" He winked at her, sending shivers down Dawn's spine. Whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, Dawn had yet to decide, but deciding not to question her hero, she wrapped her arms around his neck and braced herself as the boy jumped down expertly from the roof of the building. When they were safe, Dawn quickly unwrapped her arms from the boy and lowered herself back to the ground. She gave him a wary smile; polite, but not too endearing.

"Thanks for that," she said to him. "Now, is there any chance you've seen my Piplup around here?"

The boy blinked. "Sorry, your  _what?_ "

"Piplup. Y'know, the Penguin Pokemon? A Water-type, with a big round head and yellow beak, covered in blue and white feathers?" Dawn clarified.

"Oh. Well, uh, I think I saw something like that waddle down the street earlier... Was that yours? Should I go get it?" The boy offered, pointing his thumb behind him.

Dawn nodded hurriedly. "Yes, please! We need to find him!"

The boy placed his hand on his heart and closed his eyes dramatically, giving Dawn a self-absorbed smirk. "Say no more, fair maiden. I shall find your penguin for you!"

Dawn sighed. "It's Piplup. And my name's Dawn."

"Dawn, what a fine name for a fine woman!" the boy bowed grandly. "And I'm Kaminari, but you can call me Denki-kun." With that, he gave her another wink.

Dawn shuddered. It was a bad shudder, not a good one. She knew that now. "Okay, you're seriously starting to remind me a little too much of Brock. Let's just go before I lose my marbles..."

"You have marbles?!"

"Never mind, you're a lot more like Ash."

"Who's Ash?"

Poor Dawn.

* * *

"So how're  _you_  supposed to protect me, exactly?" Dawn asked Denki in slight annoyance. "You don't even have any Pokemon on you."

"To be fair, neither do you," Denki shot back, before muttering not-so-quietly, "Whatever  _that_  is."

Dawn huffed. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Denki shrugged. "I'm just sayin', let the kid with the electric quirk do the talking. With his FISTS!"

Dawn stopped. "I-I'm sorry... 'electric quirk'? Mind clarifying for me?"

Denki turned to her with a toothy grin. "Oh, sure! I can release electricity from my body in short outbursts ranging in intensity, but depending on how much electricity I let out, I kinda become... well, shorted-out." He paused and blushed embarrassedly. "It's not a nice sight to see, so usually I try to recharge by eating electricity. It's my main meal."

Dawn's eyes could've popped out of her head right then and there. "I-I-I'm sorry... 'EAT ELECTRICITY'?! Now I know everything. You think I'm gullible enough to believe that? Yeah, right! As if I'll ever fall for such a dumb ruse!"

Denki frowned. "What? Wait, you don't believe me?" He seemed genuinely confused. What a moron.

"Of course not!" Dawn exclaimed, raising her hands in disbelief. "What you're telling me is that you're almost a human Pikachu, and I don't buy it! I've seen strange things before, but this is crossing the line!"

Denki scratched at the side of his head, unsure of what to do or how to respond. "Well, what if I told you Pokemon don't exist in this city?"

Dawn stepped back, heart failing with shock. "W-w-wait... t-then did you even SEE MY PIPLUP?!"

Denki nodded. "Yeah, but I've never seen anything like--"

And then came the villain attack, because of course it did.

Things never went smoothly for Dawn, did they? It was almost as though her catchphrase, "No need to worry!" was a jinx cursing her for doom the whole time.

"Aw, crap!" Denki exclaimed. "That came from close-by! We should get outta here!"

Before either of them could move, Dawn heard a familiar, "Croagunk, Poison Jab!" from the corner of an alley.

She gasped loudly. "That's Brock!"

"Piplup, use Bubble Beam!"

"And that's my Piplup!" 

Denki's eyes widened. His mouth opened and moved slowly, voice barely reaching Dawn's ears. "....Craaaaaaaapppp..."

Then came the cry of an unfamiliar voice. "Dude, what the hell?! That's  _so_  un-manly!"

Denki's eyes widened even further. " _Fuck._  KIRISHIMA?!"

He didn't get a reply because apparently, the opponent--or rather, villain--had knocked the owner of that voice into a brick wall with a sickening crash.

Dawn couldn't stand there and do nothing anymore, so she ran around the corner and found Brock trying to protect a red-haired boy with a strange hero costume and rock-like skin, both Croagunk and Piplup moving to defend the two.

"Dawn! Are you okay?!" Brock exclaimed, clearly relieved.

Dawn nodded, but Denki tackled her to the ground when something went whizzing past her head, earning a high-pitched squeal from her.

Denki stood back up and protected Dawn. Brock pulled the young teen closer to him. "We've got Croagunk and Piplup, but all our other Pokemon are gone. The mist man made certain of that."

"So then... Ash and Pikachu...?"

Brock's gaze hardened. "They didn't land anywhere near here. I don't know where they are."

Dawn turned back when she heard Denki groan, struggling with something. He had his arms locked behind him, and lightning danced around his body.

"So he was telling the truth...?"

She took in the features of the villain holding Denki back, analyzing in hopes of finding a weakness.

He had fierce black eyes, pools of darkness that Dawn saw no way of escaping. In a similar likeness to his eyes, he bore stone gray skin, black, curly hair, and a strange outfit ranging in an obsidian color palette (she knew this because of Pokemon Contests). His shirt was far too short and quite ripped, and his pants were in none the better condition. He was barefoot, but that didn't seem to faze him, and the brightest thing on him were three gold armbands on his left arm.

Denki was in pain. He convulsed awkwardly and kept jittering, and the lightning crackling around him turned into concentrated bursts that could destroy almost anything in an instant, which shot themselves out randomly, miraculously avoiding Dawn, Brock, and "Kirishima," if Dawn remembered correctly.

"Denki!" Dawn exclaimed.

Denki's irises moved slowly and painfully to meet Dawn's before he got shocked by his own lightning. "R-r-r-ru-u-u-un-n-n..." His voice sounded strained, shocked, and pained. Before Denki could say anything else, though, his face blanked and his nose began to run awkwardly.

The villain released him (finally) and Denki's hands moved into a ninety-degree thumbs-up position that would move back and forth as he walked around like a broken electric toy, saying, "yaaaaaay..."

Dawn almost started to laugh until she remembered their earlier conversation. _" 'Oh, sure! I can release electricity from my body in short outbursts ranging in intensity, but depending on how much electricity I let out, I kinda become... well, shorted-out. It's not a nice sight to see, so usually I try to recharge by eating electricity. It's my main meal.' "_

Electricity! They needed electricity to get him back to normal!

Brock turned back to the boy with the spiked red hair. "Eijirou, are you okay?! That was a sudden attack!"

The boy turned back toward him, wincing. His skin wouldn't stop their rock-like appearance, and he seemed frozen, stuck to the ground. He winced and even allowed a couple of tears to be shed. "H-he's doing something... u-un-manly... my quirk... i-it won't... stop..."

Brock turned back around, and Dawn found herself feeling particularly vulnerable. If that person could overuse other people's quirks, could they do something similar with the Pokemon?

"Piplup, Whirlpool!" Dawn commanded, hoping it would do  _something,_ at the very least.

Piplup followed her command, summoning a glowing torrent of swirling water and launching it at the villain's face.

The villain dodged it fairly easily, but Croagunk had been prepared for it and hit him to the side with a powerful, well-timed Brick Break. The villain slammed into the wall, but lurched for Croagunk after recovering within the matter of less than a second. He grabbed Croagunk and shot him into the ground, knocking it out for the rest of the battle.

Brock grimaced. " _No! Croagunk!"_

Forced to return his Pokemon, Dawn found herself all alone, left to deal with him by herself.

From behind her, the boy--Eijirou, as she had heard from Brock--began talking again, muttering something about the Pros not having made it there yet.

Just in time for a certain blue-white EleSquirrel to make it to Dawn's rescue.

" _Chiiii-PAAAAAA!"_  came the cry of Dawn's Electric-type's Discharge attack, surprising their foe and knocking them to the ground. Some strands of the electricity thankfully managed to hit Denki, who had currently been unsuccessfully trying to walk through a brick wall.

"Pachirisu!" Dawn exclaimed, relief painted all over her face.

And as Dawn had identified, Pachirisu indeed appeared on the rooftop, along with Ash's Staraptor and Brock's Happiny.

"Starrrr-RAPtor!" Staraptor announced defiantly.

"Haaaaappinyyyyy!" Happiny jumped from the roof right into Brock's arms, hoping for lots of love and cuddles.

"Happiny!" Brock exclaimed, hugging his baby Pokemon. "I'm so glad you're here! You couldn't've come at a better time!"

"Staraptor, help us out!" Dawn requested, waving to the other two Pokemon. Staraptor launched off of the building and circled around, hopefully alerting some Pro Heroes as he did, but also to get momentum for battle. As for Pachirisu, it scampered down the side of the building and up Dawn's body before she extended her arm in the direction of Denki. "Okay, Pachirisu, just trust me on this! Use Discharge on Denki!"

Pachirisu gave her a hesitant glance before obliging, attacking Denki with its most powerful Electric-type attack (only after jumping from Dawn's arm so as not to shock her as well).

Denki suddenly snapped out of his stupor and licked his dry lips. "Whoa, what's... that? Some power..."

The lightning boy glanced at Dawn, who had commanded an Electric-type attack with... another weird creature? What'd he miss?

Denki smiled and gave Dawn a bright thumbs-up, but paused when Dawn found herself stifling a giggle behind her hand.

He glanced at his thumbs-up and blushed, realizing his mistake. Nonetheless, he had no more time to waste and turned to face the jerkface villain, who was finally recovering from getting his face smashed into the pavement.

Dawn turned her attention toward him, too, and now that she had backup with her, she didn't feel so alone anymore. Denki, Piplup, Pachirisu, Happiny, and Staraptor all had her back.

The real fight starts now.


	2. This World iS A F***ING NIGHTMARE!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the other Pokemon show up, the heroes fight for their lives, and then everything goes to hell. Chaos ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Note: Sorry this took so long. I had some issues with my computer's charger not charging my computer and my sis and I weren't really able to work on it for a while. But, at last, I have finished working on it with her help, and now you can all enjoy my wonderful story of wonderfulness. Have fun!

Ash didn't realize how much he depended on his friends until Tsuyu had asked him what his friends were like, to lighten the mood and decrease the tension.

"Well, Brock's been my friend for a good while. I traveled all over with him," Ash had told her.

"So you're both travelers,  _ribbit?_ " 

"You could say that. Pokemon Trainers travel all over, doing whatever makes them happy with their Pokemon. I, for instance, wanna be a Pokemon Master, so Pikachu and I have traveled all across several regions, collecting Gym Badges and taking part in tournaments testing our strengths, weaknesses, and overall ability to battle together. See, Pokemon battles are done for sport back home! It's really fun for the Trainers and the Pokemon." A cloud passed over Ash's face and he paused grimly before adding, "Although some people abuse Pokemon and use them for bad things and ambitions. I've fought many a bad guy alongside all my friends and Pokemon. We've even saved the world a couple... times..."

Pikachu nuzzled Ash longingly, understanding how much he missed Brock and Dawn.

Ash continued talking. "Dawn also does Pokemon Contests and basically shows off her Pokemon's beauty and appeal. She's really talented, too, even though it's her first adventure. She makes the best kind of Poffins for the Pokemon, too--treats, y'know? To make them happy. Brock's also the best cook you could ever ask for. He always takes care of us and helps keep the team together. I guess you could say he's like the glue to our origami, or somethin'...? Brock's good with Pokemon, mostly with healing them and pampering them and stuff. See, he has a family of like, ten or twelve brothers and sisters back home (I think?) that he took care of before he joined me, so he's pretty good at that kind of stuff."

Tsuyu smiled, seemingly reminiscing about something. "That's kinda like me, _ribbit_. I don't have ten or twelve brothers and sisters, but I do have three, and my mom and dad are always busy, so I take care of everyone as the oldest. I can see why you rely on your friends so much. They seem very important to you, _ribbit_."

Ash nodded, a nostalgic look passing his face. "We've gotten separated before, but we always got back together in the end. But back then, we were in a world we understood, and no matter what, we were never alone as long as we had our Pokemon alongside us. But now... I only have Pikachu, and this world is completely different. Our world is charming, adventurous, and, at times, kinda wacky, and there's always something new to learn there, but even then, it's still familiar to us. _This_ world..." Ash looked around at the buildings as the two walked briskly, hoping to get wherever they needed as soon as possible. "Nothing's the same here. Nothing's in common with our world! There's no Pokemon, all the people look kinda strange, and now I learn about villains and stuff. The villains in this world are so much more...evil, I guess? than the ones back home... even when they wanted to change something about our world, even as they tried to destroy people, they were always stopped by myself or the Pokemon Champions, like Cynthia. But here, you don't have things like that, and you don't have powerful Pokemon to protect you. It's... a lot more complicated, I guess."

Tsuyu nodded. "Most of the populus wants to become heroes, and those who don't have a far easier time getting better jobs that don't require putting your life on the line. It's hard, though, too. The villain you're talking about,  _ribbit_ , Kurogiri, is a well-known criminal and one of the leaders of the League of Villains."

" 'League of Villains'? Sounds intense..."

"It is. The other leader is Shigaraki, who can turn anything he touches with all five fingers into dust."

Ash glanced at Pikachu, suddenly realizing in horror that he knew  _that_  man, too.

"Darkrai warned us...!" he whispered.

"Piiika..." PIkachu agreed worriedly.

"Who? _Ribbit._ "

"Darkrai, the nightmare Pokemon. Or is it Pitch-Black? A-anyway, Darkrai gives anyone nearby nightmares, but it's not to hurt anyone, it's to warn them of oncoming dangers. Pikachu and I had a dream where this hand-covered guy--I'm assuming Shigaraki--turned all our friends into dust and we weren't able to save them! I don't know how Darkrai found out about this villain of yours, but if he knew about it, then he must want  _us_  to stop him!" Ash exclaimed in realization.

Tsuyu glanced at him, eyebrows furrowed with determination. "Alright then,  _ribbit,_ let's not dawdle and go hurry to U.A."

Ash nodded, but before the two could get on and pick up the pace, Ash found his Staraptor circling the sky, seemingly preparing for something. His eyes widened. "Staraptor!" he exclaimed. "Tsuyu-san, let's go! My friends are over there and they need help!"

Tsuyu shook her head. "We need to get help from the Pros,  _ribbit!_  We're not allowed to use our quirks in public legally yet!"

" _What?!_  Then how did you save me?!"

"That's different! We can't use them to harm people! _Ribbit!_ "

"Then what do we do?!" Ash exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air exasperatedly.

"I've got an idea," Tsuyu said, pulling something out of her pocket. It was a phone, Ash realized. She speed-dialed a number and held it up to her ear. "Midoriya-chan? I've encountered someone. You were right, _ribbit_. We need you down by where I am right now. I'll share my location."

A voice on the other side of the line sounded ready for battle and then said something to Tsuyu.

"We'll wait at the scene of the fight. He says his, er... 'Po...ke-mon...'?" She glanced at Ash, who nodded in confirmation. "Y-yeah, his 'Pokemon' is up there swirling in the sky. We want to take a closer look, since he thinks his friends are there. Also, _ribbit_ , I'm certain the rest of all of their 'Pokemon' are running around somewhere in the city, looking for their friends. We should round them all up and get them back. After all, they're all quirkless."

" _What?!"_  Ash had heard that one. " _Quirkless?!_ " He said something else on the other line Ash didn't quite catch.

"They're in danger, Midoriya. We just need to pull them out of harm's way and get them to a hero or Recovery Girl. _Ribbit_."

The other line spoke for a little while, and Tsuyu continued nodding. At some point, he said something that surprised Tsuyu.

" 'Thank you'?  _Ribbit?_ For what?"

The other line spoke a bit more.

"It was nothing, Midoriya-chan. We're friends, aren't we? It was no trouble for all of us, _ribbit_. Anyway, when you spot that bird-like Pokemon, let us know, alright?"

The other line confirmed before hanging up.

"Bye."

Tsuyu put the phone back in her pocket. "We've got backup on our way, _ribbit_ ," she told Ash. "In the meantime, let's go observe and try to help however we can. I can't use my quirk to assist you, _ribbit_ , but no one said anything about the Pokemon fighting, right?"

Ash gasped, a smile gracing his features. "Ohhhh, thank you so much, Tsuyu!" he exclaimed. "You're awesome!"

Tsuyu blushed modestly. "Let's go,  _ribbit._ I'll carry you."

Without warning, Tsuyu lifted Ash bridal style and jumped off, going from building to building, closer to Staraptor. At one point, Staraptor disappeared from view, worrying Ash. Was Staraptor fighting? From the speed it dove, he guessed so. Pikachu hung on tight to Ash's jacket and Tsuyu's grip on the teen adventurer was tight, so no one fell.

_Hang on, guys! We're on our way!_

* * *

Izuku was very,  _very_  confused.

He was right.

He was  _right._

About what? A strange dream he and his homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa, shared. A dream about the League of Villains serving a new successor before Shigaraki took his turn, because  _reasons._  A  _dream_  of all things.

Also there were strange creatures called Pokemon running amok in the city???  _What?!?_

It was a Saturday, and normally U.A. wouldn't've had classes, but the dorm system had been taken care of and all of Class 1-A was in one group, so Izuku was able to talk to his classmates and teacher about all of this. As it turns out, the previous night, Izuku had woken up from a dream where he was swallowed up by his bed, and in the dark abyss of nothing, he saw the silhouettes of Shigaraki, Kurogiri, everyone else in the League of Villains--including Toga, who had unsuccessfully attempted to get closer to him. Creepy!--and finally, the last silhouette he saw had red eyes, a strangely feminine figure, and was unrecognizable to him.

When he woke up, he had hurriedly left his room and told the whole class about his strange dream, and how he had a feeling something was very,  _very_ wrong. Aizawa had joined in, saying he had the same one, and he told the class to fan out and do some patrolling in their hero costumes. If they were to find a villain or anything that looks remotely wrong and unusual, they were to call back to Aizawa and a couple other teachers as soon as possible. Izuku was to stay in the school building with the rest of the faculty, because Aizawa had absolutely no trust in him. Izuku couldn't blame him.

It was supposed to be a short patrol. Nothing should've went wrong. But, of course, since he and Aizawa shared the same dream (a strange coincidence in Izuku's opinion) and they both had the nagging feeling something completely wrong would happen, it totally did.

Tsuyu wasn't the first to call him. At first, it had been Kirishima, who was saying he was heading back with a person named Brock. Then came Ashido, who had found a cute bunny. At first, Izuku had thought she was messing with him, but she was saying how the bunny was something she'd never seen before and then sent the class group chat a picture. Sure enough, it wasn't a bunny he recognized. Of course, Kouda was the one who had texted with like, three creatures--sorry, Pokemon--in tow. One was a weird weasel thing with two tails and a floaty, another was some weird bonsai tree on steroids? and the third was a white and blue squirrel thing.

Speaking of whom, Izuku had received another text saying the squirrel ran away from him. Why would a squirrel run away from Kouda?! That was unheard of!

Whatever the case, it sounded like Kouda was the one he should rely on the most out of everyone. Izuku wondered if Kacchan had exploded any of the poor creatures... he felt sorry for the creatures.

Izuku turned off his phone and faced his homeroom teacher. "Mr. Aizawa," he said shakily. "Can I go out and help my friends?"

"I heard your conversation and no. Not alone, at least. You're going with Midnight."

"M-Midnight-sensei?!" Izuku exclaimed, face reddening. It was no secret that Midnight was definitely one of the most awkward people to stick with Izuku, particularly because she was the R-rated Hero of Japan, and Izuku was one to easily get flustered. "W-w-why her?!"

"Her quirk is best used to ease the tension and stop the fighting," Aizawa said as though it was obvious. "From the sounds of it, you'll need the help."

Izuku nodded, suddenly uncertain of how everything would go. "A-alright... i-if you say so."

Right on cue, Midnight popped out from behind Aizawa. "Midoriya-san! Ready to go?" she asked, chipper as always.

Izuku nodded. "Ready. Oh, but before we go, I just wanna know if we can get Kouda-kun to come along with us. Since those people are quirkless, they have superpowered animals to help them, from what I heard from Tsuyu-san, and I think gathering all of them up will be a smart decision."

"We'll have to take care of the distressed  _humans_  before moving onto the animals, Midoriya. There's no rush to get them back, as far as we know, but if we don't hurry, there won't be any humans to return the animals to."

Izuku nodded. Midnight brought up a good point. "All right. Sorry for the wait, then. Let's go."

Midnight gave Izuku a smile before taking off, Izuku keeping up easily right behind her.

* * *

Staraptor dove at the villain, Overload, with a mighty Brave Bird attack. Overload seemed overwhelmed at first with the attack, but managed to grab its beak and swing it around until it hit the brick wall. Staraptor struggled, but recovered with great speed and launched back into the air.

Unfortunately, Staraptor couldn't try something else like it wanted to. It kept swerving and using Brave Bird, but by now Overload knew Staraptor's flight pattern and kept dodging no matter what. Eventually, Staraptor tried a sharp left turn to catch him off guard, but Overload had a fist coming from that direction, forcing Staraptor to duck under it, since it was too late to fly back up or counterattack, and that sent him straight at the lightning human who had assisted Dawn. The tight space of the alley and Staraptor's own large size made it impossible for him to turn around and avoid the boy. Fortunately, the kid (despite his unholy screech) had the instincts to dodge to the side in time. When Staraptor met the brick wall, it turned its body so its feet slammed into the wall in an attempt to recover. All those Brave Bird attacks, however, drained Staraptor of most of its energy, so it couldn't muster the energy to attack once more. Instead, it called out as loud as it could for help before fainting.

"Oh no! Staraptor!" Dawn exclaimed.

"We've got no time for this, Dawn! Move!" Denki cried, zapping the villain with lightning. Of course, it did nothing again, but this time he knew better than to rush in guns blazing. He couldn't be recharged by that... squirrel...? forever.

"Pachirisu, Spark, then Discharge!" Dawn commanded, pointing at the villain.

"Wait--" Denki began, but was cut off by Pachirisu jumping ahead of him and Dawn, coating itself in blue lightning. The EleSquirrel ran between the villain's feet and around a lamppost, climbing it to the top and then releasing a powerful Discharge. Brock, Dawn, and Happiny ducked for cover on the ground, protecting Eijirou and themselves from the small Pokemon's unbridled wrath. Denki took the blinding chance to join in with the attack, taking one loose strand of Pokemon lightning for himself and charging his own body as he attacked alongside the small creature. Overload genuinely looked fried, twitching and cringing from the pain of the forceful lightning attacks' combined power.

Denki panted, lowering his hands and watching the villain fall in awe. "W-we... w-we did it!" he cheered, grinning. 

Pachirisu cheered, climbed down from the lamppost, and gave Dawn a big, big, small hug.

Dawn embraced Pachirisu happily. "You did it!" she exclaimed. "Good job, Pachirisu!"

"Hey, I helped too! Pachirisu's strong, sure, but one lightning attack wouldn't've been enough to take him down. It took both of us!" Denki corrected her.

"R-right," Dawn giggled sheepishly. "My bad. Thanks, Denki."

Brock and Dawn stood up, assisting a nearly knocked out Eijirou, whose skin had finally softened. He was clearly exhausted and overworked. He even looked so tired he could barely breathe.

"He's been through a lot," Brock said, wrapping an arm of Eijrou's around his shoulder. Denki took the right, eager to assist his classmate and close friend.

"I'll get Staraptor," Dawn volunteered, refusing to be useless again. She walked over to the corner of the building and picked up Staraptor's strangely light, unconscious body. She felt her heart wrench, seeing how its beak looked slightly bent. She cradled it carefully in her arms, resting its head on her shoulder and allowing its wings to fan out over her arms. "Its beak," she said, voice breaking. "I-it's bent..."

Denki and Brock gave her a worried look. "There's no Nurse Joy in this world," Brock said. "How will we get it fixed up?"

"I know a person," Denki said. "Recovery Girl. She's the healing hero who takes care of all of the students in our school."

"Then that's where we'll go," Brock concluded. "Let's go."

The kids all moved to leave the alley, Eijirou dragging his feet as Brock and Denki supported him. It looked to be the end of the fight. However, of course, the villain wasn't ready to give in. He reached out, grabbing at the blonde boy's black coat.

Denki, startled, whipped around, eyes wide. "N-no!"

Dawn caught sight of Denki, struggling to escape the villain's grip. "Oh no! Me and my big mouth!"

"Guys, run!" Denki screamed.

Brock took over carrying Eijirou and pulled away from Denki, but he didn't give in just yet. "Happiny, Pound that man's arm!"

Happiny hesitated. She was used to fighting Pokemon, but not people...

"Please!"

Brock's broken voice forced Happiny to attack the villain. Her paw was raised, glowing with super strength, and as it came crashing down, she had to run from the mean man. There was a sickening crack in his arm where his elbow should've been, but Happiny was too scared to see for herself. Denki escaped from the man's grip, but it was too late. He was crackling with electricity, about to unleash the rest of his energy at any moment.

Something made a noise from above. Dawn glanced up, but she couldn't see much because the sun was in her eyes.

"Iron Tail!"

Was that Ash?!

She moved into the shade and saw Pikachu's iron-clad lightning bolt tail sticking up into the air. When Denki released all of his lightning, Pikachu's tail was the first thing it came in contact with.

"Now Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu unleashed the electricity it had gathered from Denki's discharge and shot it into the air. Dawn presumed it was a distress signal.

"Volt Tackle!"

Pikachu coated itself in lightning and blitzed the man on the ground. Dawn knew how wrong it felt to actually fight real people, but this world was different from theirs. The people of this world didn't have (or need) Pokemon to fight alongside them.

To Dawn's left, she noticed someone new drop down from the sky. It looked to be a feminine character, a girl in a tight green bodysuit with big, round eyes. She wrapped her arms around Denki and spoke to him gently. "C'mon, Kaminari-chan. Let's get back to U.A."

The man stood up, left arm dangling uselessly from Happiny's Pound. Dawn tried to run, but she found herself frozen in her place. Ash finally revealed himself from the top of the building. He jumped down, landing on a metal platform attached to the brick wall on the right.

"Alright, old man. It's payback time."

Ouch. Dawn had never heard Ash insult someone like that before. He must've been  _angry._

"Who you callin' old, chump?!" Overload growled. "Get your little rabbit and beat it! I don't have time for you!"

"Pikachu, Iron Tail!"

Pikachu attacked the man's back. Dawn cringed when she heard the man's ear-splitting screech of pain. She noticed a crowd of people gathering at the alley. They were making quite the ruckus.

She couldn't think straight. "Hey Graveler! Eat some Super Fang!" she called to the man. Pachirisu lunged from her shoulder and opened its mouth. Its buck teeth grew to three times their original size and dug into the man's flesh. Dark purple blood oozed from Overload's shoulder, but Pachirisu let go of him too quickly to find out what it tasted like.

The Pokemon were clearly off-put by how they were fighting and hurting a real man. Obviously they didn't want to kill him, but it was still scary.

Dawn wondered what they would have to do next.

Overload lunged at Ash, but Ash simply jumped and swung himself onto the metal platform above him. "Missed! Try again, big lug!"

Overload was clearly angry. He even started smashing the ground with his fists. Dawn didn't understand what he was doing, but she ran before she could find out. Brock struggled with Eijirou, but the girl holding Denki helped him.

"We have to go," she told them. "The Heroes will be here soon."

"We have to stall until then!" Dawn insisted. "Ash's in danger!"

"Ash has a plan," the frog girl insisted. "He's not going to get hurt."

"And if the plan fails?!"

The frog girl paused, glancing over at Ash, who jumped to the next metal platform. Pikachu was right behind him, firing lightning at Overload and running before he got too close.

"H-he'll--"

Dawn didn't get to hear the rest of the girl's response because she was grabbed by the mouth from behind. She felt a gunpoint at the side of her head and instantly froze. The others all stepped back, afraid to move a muscle should Dawn get killed.

"Sorry, kiddos. The League can't have some super animals interferin' with our plans. Sensei knows about you."

"What do you want with us?" Brock asked, grip tightening on Happiny.

"We want you to surrender and join us," the man said simply. "And come quietly. Those creatures you got? They're gonna come with, so long as you don't put up a fight. Or else, you know what Overload can do with y'all."

Dawn opened her mouth. The man's hand was too big for her to bite, so instead, she stuck her tongue out and  _licked it._ When the man pulled away, grossed out, she leaned over, bit it, and ran off to join her friends (and made sure to wipe her mouth and tongue). "No way, weirdo!" she exclaimed. "We'll never join you!"

It was only when she turned around to glance at the man that she saw his hand _was_ the gun pointing right at her forehead. That was both gross and... admittedly kinda awesome. It was a shame this person was a villain.

"Happiny, Pound the man's gun arm!" Brock exclaimed. Unfortunately, the poor baby Happiny couldn't handle hurting another person, especially the way she had hurt the man prior. Dawn understood, but her hesitance was putting everyone in danger.

"Pachirisu, Super Fang!" Dawn exclaimed.

Pachirisu refused.

"Oi, we don't need to get violent now, do we?" came another unfamiliar voice. The frog girl seemed to recognize it, however.

"M-Midnight-sensei?!" she exclaimed.

"Who?!" Brock and Dawn couldn't help wondering simultaneously.

"Let's all just sleep it off," Midnight said, tearing a hole in the arm of her costume. Dawn wondered what she was doing, wearing something so skimpy in public and then just tearing some of the fabric off. Brock modestly turned away. He might've came up to girls just because they were pretty, but he had never actually been perverted about it... just uncomfortably close. 

Dawn couldn't help feeling sleepy. She vaguely remembered seeing Ash topple from the metal platform, but she didn't know if it was real or not. Someone picked her up with strong, but somehow gentle arms. The last thing she heard before going to sleep was:

"Don't worry, everything's okay. I'm here."

* * *

When Ash woke up, he felt oddly refreshed. Before he had fallen, some block dude had saved him using concrete or something. Pikachu was right beside him, sleeping soundly. Dawn, Brock, and the other students they were with were healing as well. The area looked to be a human hospital--although, what other kind of hospital was there in the world besides animal? It wasn't like there was a Pokemon Center they could go to...

Ash groaned, sitting up. He felt some tugs on his arms and noticed he was being injected with something. He didn't know what, but it was clear he shouldn't move too much. He groaned again, suddenly feeling bored. Everyone was alright, but now he had to sit there with goodness-knows what being injected into his bloodstream and now the whole room was full of people and UUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHH.

"Good, you're awake," Ash heard an old woman say. Startled, he turned and looked around, only to find a small old lady leaning on a syringe cane, giving him a warm smile.

"Who're you?" he asked.

"Quiet!" She bopped him on the head with her cane. "You'll wake the others! I am Recovery Girl. And you, my friend, are in big, big trouble."

Ash gulped. Uh-oh, what'd he do now?

"H-how so?"

"You can't go tossing yourself in danger like that! Goodness, you're just like Midoriya."

Ash didn't know who this 'Midoriya' character was, but it sounded like they'd be Ash's new best friend. Second to Pikachu, of course.

The door opened behind Recovery Girl. A mop of green, curly hair peeked out behind it, a freckled face with green eyes meeting Ash's brown ones. "E-excuse me," the boy said. "Recovery Girl, Kouda-kun and I have rounded up the rest of the creatures."

He opened the door and a mountain-looking boy entered the room, every single Pokemon surrounding him. Ash perked up. Gible, Buizel, Grotle, and Monferno all entered the room, among the others, who went to their own respective Trainers. Gible, being Gible, started biting as much of anything as it could, but the green-haired boy prevented it by shoving his arm into its maw. Gible mindlessly and remorselessly chomped down. The boy winced, but bit his tongue and didn't make a noise. Ash found it almost scary how calm this kid was. He tried to move.

"Gible! My head, now!" he exclaimed. Gible let go of the boy's arm and gleefully jumped over to Ash's head, chomping at his skull and chewing without a problem. The boy winced and rubbed his arm, but watched Ash deal with the monstrous eater.

"A-are you okay?!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah," Ash said. "Gible's just a baby. Sorry about his teething issue. He seems to be pretty bent on eating everything in sight."

"Not unlike a certain Trainer I know of," Ash heard Dawn retort.

Ash whirled around (but instantly regretted it, as Gible's teeth sank further into his skull and gave him a massive headache), startled. "D-Dawn?! You're awake!"

"Everyone is," Dawn said, rolling her eyes. "Not hard when you're louder than an Exploud."

Ash blushed. "S-sorry..."

"Tsuyu-san, are you alright?" the green-haired boy asked.

"I'm alright, Midoriya-chan. I'm glad everyone's in one piece, though."

Recovery Girl removed the needles and other such stuff from Ash's body. "There. You're all better. Take it easy for now, try not to strain yourself. My quirk makes you use up your stamina for healing, so you'll need a couple of days to rest."

Ash nodded. "Thanks."

"Would you like me to heal your bite wounds too?"

"Nah," Ash said. "I've been getting used to it. I might've only recently caught Gible, but he's my responsibility. When I finally teach him to stop biting everything, then we can talk. For now, though, I'm alright." He was being honest. Gible wasn't too much of an issue for him. Every time Gible bit him, it was only the first few seconds that hurt, and soon the pain was so constant Ash forgot it was there. It wasn't even that bad anyway, just kinda dull.

Midoriya, the boy Tsuyu had been talking about, stood up straight and gave Ash a warm smile. "Well, I'm glad you're alright, Ketchum-kun. I'm Izuku Midoriya. It's nice to finally meet you."

" 'Finally'?" Ash asked. "Also, 'Ketchum-kun?' That's just weird."

Izuku nodded. "Yeah. Tsuyu told me about you and your quirk-creatures. I thought Principal Nedzu was the only one, but I guess I was wrong."

"Who?"

"Never mind that. Are you really quirkless?"

Ash nodded. "We don't have superpowers like you guys do. Also please don't call me 'Ketchum-kun', it sounds stupid. My name's Ash."

"Were you the one who saved us after we fell asleep?" Dawn asked out of nowhere.

Izuku blushed and looked away bashfully. "Y-yeah, I-I am. After Midnight-sensei put everyone to sleep, I came in and helped the heroes take you all to safety."

"But how come you didn't fall asleep?" Brock chimed in.

"I was wearing a gas mask. Midnight-sensei and the other heroes wanted to keep the ruckus as close to a minimum as possible. Aizawa-sensei is currently covering for you guys on behalf of the school, justifying your quirk use." That last part seemed directed at Izuku's classmates.

The red-haired boy looked down in shame, but the blonde guy crossed his arms. "I don't regret a thing!" he exclaimed. "Kirishima was in danger!"

"I know," Izuku said. "I'm not blaming you for what happened. I'm just saying that there's no school for about a week for us because of this. However, Cementoss did make you guys some rooms in our dorm." That was directed at the Trainers.

"Really?" Brock asked. "When was this managed?"

"You guys were asleep for about a day now, but Cementoss made your rooms nice and comfortable. Since you're from another world, we don't know what else to do with you, so you'll be needing someplace to sleep, right?"

Ash gave Brock an uneasy glance. Brock was the adult in their group of teens. He should be the one to decide.

Brock gave Izuku an uncertain smile. "We'd like to take you up on your offer, but we don't have any money on us. At least, not the kind you'd accept."

"No money," Izuku said. "All we ask is that you help us defeat the League of Villains."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> ("Gible, what're you doing!?" Ash screeched.
> 
> Gible didn't stop. First it chomped down on Mina's head. Then it came to Denki. Then Eijirou, who still didn't have any energy to harden from the villain attack. The last person it settled on chomping was Katsuki, who literally exploded with rage.
> 
> "GIBLE, NO!" Ash and Izuku screamed, working together to pry it off of Katsuki.
> 
> "GET THIS LITTLE SHIT OFF OF ME, YOU BASTAAAAAARDS!!!" Katsuki nearly blew Ash's face off. He was tempted to keep Gible on his head just for that, but knew it was the "right thing to do," no matter how much he deserved it.)
> 
> You kids have fun waiting for this to happen.


	3. Chapter 3: Gible Must Nibble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the whole villain things happened, the Pokemon Trainers decide to take a rest. However, while they tried to relax and take some time off to cool down, Gible decided to run rampant and start biting whatever he could find. This turned out to almost always be Katsuki Bakugou.
> 
> ...Oh dear.

"Gible, what're you doing!?" Ash screeched.

Gible didn't stop. First it chomped down on Mina's head. Then it came to Denki. Then Eijirou, who still didn't have any energy to harden from the villain attack. The last person it settled on chomping was Katsuki, who literally exploded with rage.

"GIBLE, NO!" Ash and Izuku screamed, working together to pry it off of Katsuki.

"GET THIS LITTLE SHIT OFF OF ME, YOU BASTAAAAAARDS!!!" Katsuki nearly blew Ash's face off. He was tempted to keep Gible on his head just for that, but knew it was the "right thing to do," no matter how much he deserved it.

Izuku and Ash tugged as hard as they could. Gible refused to let go, however, and bit harder into Katsuki's skull.

"AAAARRRRGH, YOU PIECE OF CRAP! C'MERE SO I CAN BLAST YA!!" Katsuki hollered, hands crackling with explosions. He lifted them to Gible, but Gible's tough scales protected him from all those attacks.

"Gible, return!" Ash exclaimed, calling the Pokemon back with his Poke Ball--but that didn't stop Gible from popping back out and chomping down on Katsuki's head again.

Izuku couldn't keep up with the little land dragon and had to pull away as Katsuki ran around the dorm building, screaming and blowing things up. "So... that's yours?" Izuku asked awkwardly.

Ash sighed. "Yeah. I only recently caught it, but it seems to like chomping down on everything. Either it's biting him because it really likes him, or it's biting him because it really hates him. It seems to do that a whole lot."

"Does it ever... not bite?"

"Ask me again when it evolves into Ga _bite_. Or maybe a Gar _chomp_."

"So... that'd be a no?"

Katsuki sprinted around back to Ash, pinning him down on the ground with explosions crackling from his arm. Blood was dribbling down his face and his eyes were so wide and bloodshot it was scary (it didn't help that his irises were also red). "Alright, Fuckface, get this little shit off of me or you're gonna fucking die," he growled dangerously low.

Ash quivered, but didn't waver. "G-get off of me, you Electrode! You can't go a single second without exploding at the smallest things!"

"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?!"

Dawn snickered, but Ash had only barely caught it.

"Boys, CHILL!" Brock yelled. "Break it up!" He tugged Katsuki from the back of his shirt and roughly pulled him back. Katsuki tried to attack Ash again, but Happiny held up a paw in warning. Katsuki quavered slightly and backed down, allowing Ash some time to get up. Dawn helped him stand.

"So your Pokemon just... eats? Nonstop?" Rikido asked. "How do you usually get it to stop?"

"Usually, after Gible gets its energy out, it falls asleep for a while in its Poke Ball," Ash answered. "But since we've been here, all Gible's been doing is eating and eating and eating..."

"Yeah, no kidding," Minoru groaned. "He destroyed my room!"

Mina shrugged, not even bothering to hide her pleasure at that. "Good. I think it's a good look for it."

Minoru shrank and sobbed. Ash would've felt bad, but he had already witnessed Minoru harassing Dawn since she came there, so he really had no empathy for the little guy.

It had been two days since the villain attack. Ash and Brock shared a bedroom while Dawn had the other one in their hotel room-like dorm. They had almost no belongings to decorate the room with, so they were provided with pretty posters, statuettes, and even clothing to change into, completely identical to what they had been wearing from the start (courtesy of Momo: "Only this once! You have no idea what this could do to our economy!").

So basically, it looked exactly like Ash's closet back home.

All jokes aside, the Trainers were eager to help and were thus given the room to stay in. Those past two days, however, Gible had been uncontrollable. He kept attacking the students and teachers--even Aizawa-sensei and Present Mic-sensei were bitten (Present Mic was never bitten again since his pained screeches broke every window within a hundred-mile radius. Also poor Kyouka). There was an incident involving Happiny almost destroying the room trying to get Gible off of Katsuki using Pound, but when Happiny followed Katsuki outside and accidentally pounded him in the face so hard he created a literal crater right in front of the dorm building, that's when Brock decided Happiny would stay out of any and all conflicts involving the students after profusely apologizing to the explosive teen. Katsuki still sported a red mark from Happiny. Surprisingly, he had made it out without a broken nose.

Ash kept trying to return Gible to his head, but he seemed bent on attacking Katsuki most out of everyone. Ash, of course, didn't blame him, but Katsuki's hair was starting to look mighty bloody and Ash was afraid to look at him again.

Ash shook his head; he didn't know what to do. "I-I'm sorry, man! Look, I try to control Gible, but what he does is out of my area! Unless..."

Ash felt stupid. Why hadn't he thought of it before?

"Pikachu, Electrode, follow me! We're going outside!"

Electrode glared at Ash. "WHAT THE FUCK KINDA NICKNAME IS THAT, YOU PIECE OF SHIT?!?!"

Ash ignored Electrode and ran outside, Pikachu following suit eagerly. "Pikachu, Iron Tail! Chip away the edge of a piece of concrete!"

Pikachu coated its tail in iron and slashed at the side of the road outside. The concrete broke away easily. It wasn't too far in the way, but it was definitely not the best way to deal with the situation. Still, Pikachu had the piece of concrete and Gible had found himself a new chewing toy. Gible jumped off of Katsuki's head and started munching on the concrete slab eagerly.

Ash sighed. "Why didn't we think of that sooner...?"

"Y'know you could've asked Mineta-kun to use his quirk to get Gible to stay in one place," Izuku pointed out to Ash. "You wouldn't've had to destroy the road for that. Also, you could've asked Cementoss for concrete if you needed it so bad."

Ash's eyes widened. "Regrets," he said. "Regrets have been made."

"I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET EVER COMING HERE YOU LITTLE--"

Electrode was defused with Happiny waggling its paw at him in a "no-no" fashion, like a parent would say to a child. Izuku's breath hitched and he cringed as though anticipating an explosion from him.

Katsuki exploded his hands a couple of times, but eventually stormed back inside the building. Out on the lawn right by the dorm building, Grotle had woken up to another ruckus, just like the days prior. It opened its maw for a couple of seconds and yawned before standing up. It had collected enough light from the sun for the day, so it could go back to Ash and ask for food. Sunlight was only one of Grotle's important necessities.

"Mineta-kun!" Izuku called. "Can we have one of your grape... things?"

Minoru groaned so loudly Ash heard it from outside. He walked out and popped a ball off his head, then dropped it on the ground. After Gible had bitten through the concrete (with a sickening and loud crunch), he lunged for the round, shiny purple thing and chomped it. It was soft and squishy and sticky and perfect.

Grotle nudged Ash's leg and opened its mouth. Monferno followed suit, bouncing angrily and pointing at its mouth.

"Alright, alright, I'll getcha guys some lunch," Ash gave in. "Let's head back to the room."

Buizel was practicing Aqua Jet against the brick wall, but Ash called Buizel in for lunch, prompting it to tear itself away from its training and take a break. Pikachu, of course, perched itself neatly on Ash's shoulder, and Gible... well, he already ate. The entire day. Two days. Nonstop. And Staraptor had been flying above the building. Ash asked Kouji to call it down with his Anivoice quirk.

"Alright, guys, chow time!" Ash told his Pokemon. Brock had made some wonderful food for everyone, and Rikido had made wonderful desserts to go along with them. The students didn't know if they had ever eaten such good food in their lives (except for Momo and Shouto, of course).

Speaking of Shouto, he kinda worried Ash. Shouto hadn't said a word to him since he came there, but he was clearly social with Izuku.

"Hey, what's with Shouto?" Ash asked Izuku. "He kinda doesn't seem... engaged, like everyone else. Even Katsuki speaks to me, even though it's all violent words and swears."

"Shouto... well, he's different. I guess you could say he's usually in his own world," Izuku said. "It's best not to bug him too much."

Shouto... He kinda reminded Ash of Paul, although not nearly as violent. In fact, it kinda seemed like Paul was a combination of Shouto's cool, aloof personality and Katsuki's violent, careless, yet precise tendencies.

Ash narrowed his eyes and continued eating. Pikachu climbed up his shoulder when he was done and started poking around at Ash's food. "Piiika."

"Pikachu, you ate already."

Pikachu grabbed a leaf of lettuce from Ash's plate and ate it before darting off and disappearing behind a door.

Ash shrugged. Pikachu didn't always steal food and it wasn't like Ash didn't want to share with him. Sometimes Pikachu just needed an extra fruit or veggie to finish off his meal, so it was normal.

"So Ash, are you close friends with your little bunny?" Ochako asked.

Ash nodded. "Yeah. But, uh, his name's Pikachu, and Pikachu's an electric  _mouse_ , not a bunny."

"He kinda reminds me of Deku-kun! And Kaminari-kun, actually..." Ochako pointed out. " 'Cuz Deku-kun's uniform looks like a green bunny and Kaminari-kun has an Electrification quirk!"

Izuku blushed at Ochako's comparison and hid his face with his mop of green hair.

"So how'd you two meet?" Mina asked.

"Actually, that's a good question, Ash," Dawn commented. "How  _did_  you meet?"

Ash smiled fondly at the memory. "Well, y'know, Pikachu wasn't always so fond of me. When we first met, actually, Pikachu hated me."

Most of the students at the table gasped in shock. "Really?" Yuga asked. "But your Pikachu seems to  _sparkle_  when it's around you now!"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. But y'know, when we first met, it was because I overslept. It was on the tenth day of the tenth month after my tenth birthday. My mom remembered that one," he added proudly. "I had woken up at like, ten in the morning, I think. I dunno, I had definitely overslept, and when I got to Professor Oak's lab, I was too late to get my first Pokemon."

"Wait, you get these things when you're ten?!" Toru cried. "That's insane! What kinda wacky world do you guys live in?!"

"We could ask you the same thing," Dawn retorted.

Toru didn't have a response to that, so Mina shrugged. "Fair point. Continue."

"Anyway, I had no other options. I asked Professor Oak to give me another Pokemon, any kind. He said he only had one Pokemon left."

"Pikachu?" Denki guessed.

Ash nodded. "But Pikachu shocked us both when we first let it out of its Poke Ball. And I mean literally, not figuratively. At one point, I even ended up holding rubber gloves and dragging it with a rope to get it to come along with me. Pikachu just didn't like me, though, so even when I removed the rope and gloves, it didn't care to help me. I tried catching a different Pokemon on my own, ended up getting laughed at by Pikachu, and then I got attacked by a flock of Spearow."

"Spearow?! How'd you manage that?!" Dawn exclaimed.

"I threw a pebble at one of them."

"Wow, you're an idiot."

"HEY! This was five years ago! Remember when you tried to catch your own first Pokemon?!"

Dawn smiled. "Yeah. Buneary put up quite a fight. So what Pokemon did you try to catch first?"

"Since I'm from Kanto," Ash said. "I tried to catch a Pidgey."

"So what's a Spearow and Pidgey?" Izuku asked.

Dawn and Ash pulled out their Pokedexes. Dawn searched up Pidgey and showed it to the class. "Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. A Normal- and Flying-type. It is docile and prefers to avoid conflict. If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back."

Ash pulled up Spearow's page. "Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. A Normal- and Flying-type. It flaps its small wings busily to fly. Using its beak, it searches in grass for prey."

"Unlike Pidgey, Spearow are hostile Pokemon," Brock explained. "So when Ash hit the one Spearow with a pebble, it got mad and called its friends."

"I ended up running for mine and Pikachu's lives from a huge flock of angry Flying-types that wanted to peck us till death," Ash continued. "I even swam through a river and ran from a Gyarados. I also managed to fry my first travel buddy's bike and owe her a new one for two whole years."

"Wait, seriously?!" Dawn exclaimed. "Mine wasn't the first?"

"Yours was the third."

At this, the whole class's eyes latched onto Ash. "And they were all destroyed with Pikachu using Thunderbolt."

Shouto raised his hands and clapped slowly. "Good job Ketchum Ash."

Brock winced. "Don't those bikes cost, like, a million Poke?"

Ash cringed. "I-I mean... in Kanto, they do..."

The whole table gave Ash a sympathetic " _Ouch_ ".

"A-anyway, eventually Pikachu got injured. I hijacked a bike from someone who fished me up from the river, but I had no time to stop and apologize to her, so I took her bike and ran. Pikachu was injured, the Spearow were catching up, and to top it off it began to rain. Eventually, I got too tired to keep going, so I collapsed with the bike on the ground. I couldn't do nothing, though, so I stood and faced the Spearow with my arms out wide. I told them to come and get me, that they weren't going to get their hands on Pikachu," Ash kept going. "But when they lunged for me, Pikachu climbed my shoulder, was struck with a lightning bolt from the sky, and used the most powerful Thundershock you'd've ever seen! The Spearow were all gone, the storm was over, the bike was fried, and we were still weak, but safe. We even saw a Legendary Pokemon fly over a rainbow before continuing on!"

"A Legendary?"

Brock sighed. "Ash keeps insisting he's seen Ho-Oh. It's not possible, though. No one's seen it. It's literally just a legend."

"I  _have_ , though!" Ash argued. "Here, look!" He opened up a 'Dex entry for Ho-Oh and showed it to the class.

"Ho-Oh, the Rainbow Pokemon. A Fire- and Flying-type. It possesses seven-colored wings. It is said that those who see Ho-Oh are promised an eternal happiness."

"This is the Pokemon I saw," Ash said. "I swear it! And ever since I've seen it, Pikachu and I've been best buds! We've never been happier to be traveling together!"

"So the legend's true, then!" Mina piped up. "If ever since this Pokemon showed up, you two have gotten along so great, then Ho-Oh made that happen. It's the reason you two are together, and ever since that happened, you've been strengthening your bond even further. So the legend's true, right?"

Ash closed his Pokedex and glanced back at the door where Pikachu had disappeared. "I never thought of it that way. I'd always been grateful for Pikachu's presence, but I guess I should also thank Ho-Oh."

Brock sighed. "It... makes sense, I guess. Legend or not, you two have been close since you fought me at the Gym..."

So the Trainers and classmates exchanged stories about how they met one another, fought one another, and learned to trust each other. That entire lunch was a bonding moment for everyone (even Shouto).

* * *

Ash and Class 1-A stared at Gible incredulously.

_It bit through Mineta's gumball._

Izuku stepped in front of Katsuki warily, but Katsuki wouldn't have it.

"MOVE IT, DEKU!"

"B-b-but Kaccha--"

"I'D RATHER GET EATEN BY THAT LITTLE SHIT THAN BE PROTECTED BY SOMEONE AS WORTHLESS AS _YOU_!"

Ash, Dawn, and Brock all turned to stare at the blonde, shocked. " _Wow_ ," Brock eventually said. "Are you always this rude?"

"THE FUCK?!"

"I swear, he actually _is_ an Electrode," Ash muttered.

"Wait, so what _is_ an Electrode anyway?" Toru asked, raising an invisible hand. Ash could tell because one of the short sleeves on her pretty pink shirt rose up.

Ash looked it up on his Pokedex in record time and showed it for all of the class to see. "Electrode, the Ball Pokemon. It explodes in response to even minor stimuli. It is feared, with the nickname of 'The Bomb Ball.' "

That pissed Katsuki off. "YOU CALLIN' ME A FUCKIN' 'BOMB BALL' NOW?!"

Tenya placed his hand on his chin. "Actually, that is quite an accurate and sufficient nickname. Not at all far fetched."

"Farfetch'd, the Wild Duck Pokemon. A Normal- and Flying-type. Using the green onion that it holds like a sword, Farfetch'd can slice through a variety of objects."

The whole class turned to Dawn, who kept trying to turn her Pokedex off, embarrassed. "S-sorry! I forgot there was a voice recognition on this thing! I don't know how mine was turned on suddenly!"

"What I'm most surprised at is there's actually a Pokemon called 'Far Fetched'," Momo said, sounding astounded.

"WHY THE FUCK, YOU LITTLE SHIT?! IT FUCKING HUUUURTS!" Katsuki screeched.

"Gible?!" Ash exclaimed. Gible was munching once again on Katsuki's head, looking very delighted with itself.

"Gible took our distraction as a chance to attack Katsuki!" Brock exclaimed. "How do we get it off?!"

"DRAGON! DOWN, NOW!" Katsuki roared.

Gible, surprisingly, obeyed and glanced up at Katsuki.

"HUH?!" Ash exclaimed. "What the hay, Gible?!"

"If you're gonna bite me," Katsuki growled. He bent down and made eye contact with Gible. Then, to everyone's surprise, he leaned and  _bit Gible's dorsal fin_. "A' LEATH' DO I' 'IKE 'IS! 'EE? I' DOE'N' HU'!"

Katsuki let go of Gible and Gible tried it out for himself. Katsuki didn't even flinch, and it seemed like Gible was a lot gentler this time.

"Whoa!" Ash exclaimed. "Katsuki actually  _trained_  Gible not to hurt with its biting?! In like, TWO SECONDS?!? I've been trying to do that for _weeks!_ "

Katsuki didn't respond to Ash's comment and coolly walked off. Gible gave Ash a friendly wave as they walked back inside. Ash fumed and stomped off to where Buizel had returned to its training. " _Buizel, Grotle, Monferno, Pikachu. Training grounds, NOW."_

None of his Pokemon dared object to him. Ash was  _pissed_ , so some good old training would blow off some steam.

Pikachu tried to nuzzle Ash and calm him down, but Ash wasn't really in the mood.

Izuku watched Ash and his Pokemon separate from Gible, then turned to the other two Trainers in confusion. "Um... what just happened?"

Brock sighed. "Ash takes his Pokemon's bond very close to heart. When Gible listened to Electrode but not him, it's no wonder Ash got so mad. Pokemon are very close to their Trainers. If they don't listen to anyone else, they'll listen to them."

Izuku watched Pikachu trying to cheer Ash up.

"Pokemon are sensitive creatures, no matter how tough their exterior may appear. Ash is well-known for connecting with Pokemon on not just an emotional level, but also on a spiritual one," he continued. "A Pokemon that bonded with him listening to another person or Trainer is heartbreak."

Izuku's heart sank. "O-oh..." he muttered. "I guess that makes sense..."

Ash disappeared behind the buildings and trees, but Izuku knew where he was headed. Ash was going to the school, where he could get to a battleground to train his Pokemon.

* * *

Izuku didn't hear much more out of Ash for the rest of the day. Katsuki was actually calm with Gible latching onto his head, and the rest of the day went by fairly quietly; an unusual situation for Class 1-A.

Aizawa-sensei gathered the class and Trainers (minus Ash) and began announcements for the training for the pro hero licensing exam.

"...I don't get how today was so quiet," Aizawa-sensei continued. "But whatever happened, I don't trust Midoriya or Bakugou one bit. Todoroki, I want you to check on Ketchum."

Todoroki nodded and pulled away from the rest of the class. Izuku couldn't help being concerned for Ash and Todoroki-kun's safety.

* * *

"Pikachu, Iron Tail! Monferno, Flame Wheel! Grotle, counter with Energy Ball, and Buizel, use Sonic Boom!"

Attack after attack continued colliding against each other, and Ash still wasn't feeling any better. He noticed his Pokemon panting with exhaustion, but didn't care.

"Keep it up, everyone!" he called. "We gotta get much stronger!"

But as the Pokemon kept attacking one another, Energy Ball hit Pikachu, knocking it back. The Pokemon were beginning to look injured, and it was only then Ash remembered that there was no Nurse Joy this time. Yes, there was Recovery Girl, but she wasn't the same.

"S-stop..." Ash finally said. "Everyone stop, y-you all did... great..." He suddenly felt lightheaded and collapsed on his knees. The Pokemon slowly gathered back together and returned to Ash. What caught them off guard was a tear that fell from under Ash's cap.

Pikachu approached his best friend confusedly, lifting a paw to catch the next tear. When he did, the yellow Pokemon glanced up at Ash. The boy's eyes were shut tight, tears leaking out and streaming steadily. "Pika...?"

Ash sniffled and tried to stop his tears, but nothing worked. Pikachu moved into Ash's lap and snuggled against his chest comfortingly. His other Pokemon approached him and warmed him up, giving him their best equivalent of a hug and allowing him to sob his heart out.

The group stayed there for a good, long amount of time. They remained that way when Shouto entered the room. Ash heard him and stood up, turning around. He didn't say anything to the half-and-half boy, but it was still pretty clear that now wasn't a good time.

"Pardon," Shouto said politely, but with a poker face. "Aizawa-sensei wants to know why you're here."

Ash rubbed his eyes with his gloved hands, wiping away the tears. "I was just training," Ash told Shouto. "S-sorry you had to see me like this."

"You know Gible hanging out with Bakugou doesn't mean Gible doesn't like you, right?"

"I know that, I don't care as much about that," Ash groaned. "Gible  _listened_  to him. Gible _trusts_ him!"

"Gible almost ate him alive."

"And the fact that Electrode survived and actually cared to teach Gible otherwise makes Gible see sense in him."

"Didn't you do the same, though? Wouldn't Gible see you and Bakugou as equals?"

"It doesn't matter!" Ash exclaimed. "If that's the case, then Katsuki is just as qualified to be Gible's partner--Gible's _Trainer_!"

"Except he's missing something," Shouto pointed out, leaning on the wall.

"What?!"

Shouto raised an eyebrow. "A Poke Ball? A Pokedex? Literally any qualification of being a Trainer? Bakugou has no experience, unlike you. You just needed to approach your Pokemon differently and Bakugou happened to be the right kind of person to do that. Knowing him, he'd approach any other Pokemon the same exact way. For instance, the bunny Pokemon your female friend has wouldn't be won over by that kind of behavior, unlike Gible."

Ash sniffled and glanced at his Pokemon, who gave him assuring nods and smiles. "I-I guess... I guess you're right. Gible just found the right playmate, huh?"

"Exactly." Shouto stood back up and pointed to the door out of the small training facility. "Now c'mon, you're late for roll call and announcements by half an hour."

Ash winced. "C'mon, gang," he told his Pokemon partners. Shouto led him back, all the Pokemon following suit.

* * *

Brock sighed. It'd been twenty minutes. Why hadn't Ash and Todoroki returned yet?

"You're worried about Ash, huh?" Dawn asked him, noticing the young man's discomfort.

"Ash took Gible's interest in Bakugou very seriously," Brock said. "It's only natural I'm worried about him."

Kouda stroked Staraptor's wings, giving it a wonderful massage to help its wings during its next flight. He listened intently to the two conversing.

"It makes sense, I guess," Dawn said, glancing over at Bakugou, who seemed fairly content with Gible latching on. The blood from before was cleaned and removed, so he looked just normal-angry again. "Katsuki seems to have cooled down for now, and with Gible biting on his head, we don't really have to worry about him eating or destroying anything else."

Brock let his shoulders go slack. "I guess so."

A shadowed figure approached the two Trainers. Aizawa, Brock recognized. The teacher of this class of superpowered teenagers.

"Where's Ketchum?" he asked. "Do you know?"

"He probably went to train," Brock said. "Ash does that when he's stressed. We train with our Pokemon fairly often."

"He trains, huh? Does he train himself as well?"

Brock nodded. "Despite what you may think, Ash is actually very strong and in-shape. He might not look like it, but if you've seen him climb a tree or jump off a cliff to save a Pokemon..."

Dawn gave him a wide, incredulous look. "He's done that?!"

"He's really lucky to be alive..." Brock mumbled audibly.

Aizawa's eye twitched. "Sounds like a certain problem child of mine..." He turned to face Izuku immediately, the little green boy freezing in place as though sensing Aizawa's gaze on him.

Brock gave Aizawa a knowing smile. "Not that easy, taking care of a little hero, is it?"

"No, it's really not. More of a pain than anything, really, especially since he looks up to All Might so much."

"I've heard of All Might," Dawn muttered. "Denki pointed it out. But what does All Might have to do with Midoriya-kun?"

"Midoriya and All Might seem to have a strange kind of relationship. Ever since All Might retired, Midoriya can't seem to sit still, as though he has to train every second he breathes if he's not eating or studying. He's only stressing himself out, and all he ever does is break limb after limb saving people. At this rate, he won't be in a physical condition fit enough to be a hero."

Brock gave Izuku a thoughtful glance. "Maybe we can help somehow." He turned to Dawn. "Dawn," he said loudly, enough to gather attention from the students. "I challenge you to a battle!"

"Wha--me?! B-but Brock, I-- w-what about having a referee?!" Dawn exclaimed.

"It'll be an informal battle. We can have a formal battle when Ash comes back."

Dawn looked around. The students' interests had been piqued, even Bakugou's. She swallowed a lump in her throat. "A-are you sure?"

"A Double Battle."

"D-Double?!"

"Right here, right now--okay, not right here, but  _right now!"_

Dawn glanced around. Her Pokemon seemed to want a fight anyway. Sighing, she pulled out a Poke Ball from her bag. "Alright, fine. I accept your challenge!"

Brock gave her a smile. "Aizawa-sensei, where can we safely battle with our Pokemon?"

"I'd recommend going to a battle arena, but we can take you to a cityscape if you want," Aizawa said. "I'm a teacher, so I can allow it. Technically it's after hours, but you're not really students, so..."

Dawn and Brock nodded to each other. "Great!" Brock said. "Take us to the cityscape!"

* * *

As Shouto and Ash walked together, Ash played with Pikachu's Poke Ball, despite never really using it. "We should be almost there," Shouto said.

"Okay."

Ash wasn't really tired. He was used to walking long distances for days on end as a regular Pokemon Trainer, but he knew his Pokemon were tired. Perhaps he should return them to their Poke Balls. He wanted them to have some fresh air, but sometimes it was best for them to just rest.

Not like Nurse Joy will make them feel any better.

Shouto noticed the dark cloud passing over Ash's face. "Oh. It's the class."

Dawn, Brock, and Aizawa were leading the class on what looked like a little field trip.

"Aizawa-sensei, where are you all going?" Shouto asked politely.

"The city-scape. We're about to witness our first Pokemon battle."

Ash's eyes widened. A battle?! He glanced at Dawn and Brock. Dawn gave him a sheepish smile, but Brock didn't look very happy.

"W-what's this all about, Brock?" Ash asked.

"Let's call it a lesson for the students."

A lesson? That seemed kinda ominous in Ash's eyes.

Ash watched (totally not jealously) as Katsuki sent him a death glare, Gible waving excitedly at him while hanging from Electrode's head by his teeth.

"Seriously?! We just walked all this long way!" Ash moaned.

"Aren't you used to this by now?" Shouto asked.

"I mean, I am... it just sucks."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sylvia: Hey, guys! Sorry it's been so long! My sister and I have been busy doing school shenanigans and personal stuff came up. We haven't been able to get to this for a little while, but we promise we haven't forgotten about it.
> 
> Yo, this is Ikaya, Sylvia's sister. Just wanted to let you know that I won't let said older sibling give up on this fanfic b/c I know how much it sucks when other authors do that.
> 
> Sylvia: Yeah, I know. I'm one of those people sometimes, but I'm also one of those readers, too. Thanks for helping me 'round, Ika. You've been a big help with this.
> 
> Ikaya: YEET! *throws laptop*
> 
> Sylvia: NOOOOO!!!! (ALSO PLEASE LET IT BE KNOWN THAT SHE DID NOT ACTUALLY THROW MY LAPTOP. NEVER THROW YOUR ELECTRONICS IF YOU VALUE THEM AND THEIR USE. EVEN IF YOU DON'T, YOU COULD SELL IT TO SOMEONE WHO DOES. THAT'S JUST WASTING ELECTRONICS!)
> 
> Sylvia: Anyway, see y'all next time! If you have any suggestions, comment down below and follow me for more stories, if you want them! I'll try to organize everything I can. Sylvia signing out!
> 
> Ikaya: ....yeet....eth. *kicks leg like Mettaton*


	4. Don't Switch your Fanfics--It's Team Rocket!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Rocket wakes up separated like Ash and the others were, and Brock has suddenly challenged Dawn to a double battle!
> 
> Also... Midnight. Just... Midnight.

"D... wo---"

She couldn't hear much; the voice was far too murky. When she tried to survey her surroundings, her eyes stung like Beedrill. But whoever it was, they were probably sickeningly  _good._  That didn't bode very well for her, if she didn't play her cards right.

Lucky for her, she was a star actress.

"I've got you," the unfamiliar voice said, clear enough for Jessie to finally understand.

"Urgh..." Jessie groaned. "T-thank...?" She couldn't manage much more; somehow traveling through that mist sapped her of her energy and made her feel sick.

"Can you stand?"

Jessie attempted to stand, realizing that the figure had been trying to hold her up on their own. Her knees buckled beneath her and collided with the tough cement below, causing her to cry out.

"I'll call for help!" the figure exclaimed, kneeling to assist her. They put a finger to their helmet and started mumbling, but Jessie couldn't make their words out, nor did she really care to try. Her head was still pounding from that nauseating experience, and she still had to find...

...oh god no.

Where were James and Meowth? Wobbuffet? Seviper? Yanmega? Cacnea, Chimecho, Carnivine... and, dare she even think it, the twerps? Jessie couldn't feel the weight of her Poke Balls, and at this point, she was too groggy to think.

* * *

"James... Meowth? Sevipe...W-Wobbu..Yanme--C-Cacnea... Chime, Carni...twerps...?" The woman was either foreign, speaking gibberish, or both. Thirteen couldn't understand what she was trying to say. She pushed her magenta hair out of her face, then moved her hand to the base of her skirt, feeling for something while the other clutched onto Thirteen for dear life. When she couldn't find anything where she was groping, she scrambled to her feet, finally regaining her balance, and gasped shrilly.

"MY POKE BALLS!" she screeched suddenly, startling Thirteen. "WHERE ARE MY POKE BALLS?!"

They flinched. "I-I'm sorry... y-your _what_?"

They wouldn't've thought this person... with their long, magenta hair, insanely short miniskirt, thigh-high boots, their crop-top shirt... but who was Thirteen to judge or assume, really? Anything was possible in this world. Perhaps it was even quirk-related.

"My Poke Balls!" the person cried, placing a hand to their heart. "My precious Pokemon... they were inside! I need to find them before they get lost!"

"C-calm down, please... help is on the way. Please, can you elaborate on your 'Poke Balls' and 'Pokemon'?" Thirteen asked calmly, visibly cringing at the former unusual term.

The woman(?)--person--glanced down at Thirteen in shock. "Y-you don't know what a Poke Ball is...?" The person paused and, red-faced, tried to correct themself. "W-w-wait, a Poke Ball is a technological device! I-it's not what you probably think it is!"

Thirteen allowed themself an audible sigh of relief. "Okay, that makes a LOT more sense. Then what's a Pokemon?"

The person took a breath to answer, but looked around suddenly, as though in realization. "Wait, where are we?"

Thirteen took the opportunity to inform the person. "You were falling from the sky, so I used my quirk to pull you to land and get you here safely. I am the Rescue Hero Thirteen, it's a pleasure to meet you, er..."

The person gasped. "Oh! I'm Jessie. Thank you very much for saving me!" Before Thirteen could get in a word edgewise, the person continued talking. "My Pokemon, right... One of them is a cream-colored feline with a gold coin on its forehead. You might know it, it's a Meowth, a unique one. Meowth can speak English, unique to others; that's how you'll know whose it is. Then there's my other Pokemon, a blue, roundish one, with a black tail and four little nub-legs. It always holds one hand up to its forehead. It's called 'Wobbuffet'. All it says is its name... A-and Seviper, it's a navy-colored snake-like Pokemon, with a poison-barbed tail. It has bright red fangs and yellow and purple markings. It also says its name. All our Pokemon do."

Thirteen quickly recorded Jessie's descriptions into an audio box in their helmet, while Jessie continued describing every Pokemon carefully.

"...and my friend, James. He has lavender hair, green eyes, and wears a uniform similar to my own," Jessie finally finished.

This was new. "Is James also a Pokemon?"

Jessie shook her head. "No, James is human!"

Human? Thirteen paused. "So... all those creatures you described--"

"Pokemon are animalistic creatures, they protect us whenever things get bad!" Jessie exclaimed. "Oh, please, you have to help me find my Pokemon! My poor friends..." The supposed woman slid to the ground, hands up to her face as she began to cry softly.

Thirteen felt an aching feeling in their heart; this poor person was a victim. They would help them find their friends and creatures, no matter what it took. Thirteen placed a comforting hand on Jessie's shoulder. "I'll help you find your friends," they assured. "I promise."

The person sniffed and glanced up, blue eyes glazed over with happiness. "Y-you mean it?" they asked.

Thirteen nodded. "Definitely. After all, I am a Hero, aren't I? Heroes are here to help."

Jessie sniffed and wiped their tears. "Th-thank you," they whispered, clearly grateful.

* * *

If Jessie kept this act up, she could find her friends in no time. Although that implication with the Poke Balls threw her off completely, when she realized the Hero still felt confused around her, she thought she might ask what the matter was.

"I-I'm sorry," the Pro Hero apologized bashfully. "I never seemed to have caught your pronouns..."

"Sorry?" Jessie blinked.

"Y-your pronouns, like, do you use 'she/her', 'they/them', 'he/him', etc.?"

"Oh," Jessie blinked. "I, er... I'm a woman. I use the pronouns 'she' and 'her'." The Hero's behavior confused her, but she didn't question it nonetheless. It must've been protocol or something, or maybe they were just curious. Actually, that made her curious.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Oh, 'they/them'," Thirteen answered.

Ah, that explained it.

"I see," Jessie sighed. "Thank you. Are we just going to sit here and wait?"

"Yes," Thirteen said. "I have several colleagues on the way. I sent them an audio recording of your descriptions to aid in finding your friends. For now, I'll be helping you. How do you feel right now?"

Jessie held her stomach, shifting to a comfortable sitting position. "A little sick," she admitted honestly. "You said I was falling through the air...? Where are we, anyway?"

"We're in Musutafu, Japan, ma'am. Do you know how you ended up in the sky in the first place?" Thirteen asked, kneeling to meet Jessie's eye level.

She couldn't take that person seriously with the astronaut suit on. She didn't know why, but it just intimidated her to almost no end. Swallowing her fear, she took a shaky breath. "It could have to do with the dark mist from before," she told them, recalling the strange thing that took her away from her friends. "I was in a forest, with my friends, when suddenly a huge black smoke just whisked us all away. The next thing I know, I'm here, waking up in your arms after you saved me from falling to my ultimate doom..."

"A black smoke...?" Thirteen gasped, confusing Jessie.

"What?"

"...it's nothing. Thank you very much for this information, ma'am."

Jessie watched Thirteen turn around and mumble into their communicator a bit more, still confused. Did Thirteen know something about the black smoke? What was it?

Thirteen turned back around after a good few minutes of mumbled conversation. "A colleague of mine has found your snake and cat," they told Jessie.

* * *

"Excuse me," a feminine voice said behind James.

The young man turned around and gasped harshly, averting his eyes to stare at the ground, which was suddenly very interesting, his face bright red.

"Are you James? Do you know what a Pokemon is?" the woman before him asked.

James bit his lip. "Y-yes, I-I am... h-how would you...?"

When he had woken up in this world, he found no one knew about Pokemon, Team Rocket, or anything else related to the sort. Thankfully, Cacnea was with him, as was evident by the painful, prickly hugs he kept receiving from the young Pokemon.

"I happen to have met some of your Pokemon Trainer friends," the woman said, seemingly a little bit irritated. She stepped forward, but with each step James stepped backward, heart racing even faster than before. This woman was going to give him a heart attack!

She used her finger to bring James' gaze up to hers, and smiled at him. "I am Midnight," she introduced herself. "The R-rated Hero."

"I-I can see why..." James muttered under his breath. "P-please, I rather enjoy my personal space..."

Midnight huffed and stepped away. "You're so boring," she whined, rolling her eyes when James finally sighed a breath of relief. "C'mon, your friends are waiting at U.A."

"U.A.? Wait, please! Tell me where we are first!" James cried. "Cacnea and I are lost. I don't know where Jessie is, or Meowth, or--"

"--Wobbuffet, Seviper, Yanmega, Chimecho, Carnivine?" Midnight offered. "A colleague of mine found your friend Jessie and got descriptions for all of your 'Pokemon' and Poke Balls, which we are all scouring the city for. Now c'mon, we have to be careful. U.A. is covering for you weirdos from another world to keep the world from panicking. You'll go with the other Trainers back with Class 1-A."

" 'Other Trainers'?" James echoed. "N-no way! The--" He cut himself off from saying the word "twerps" to avoid calling attention to himself, and instead mumbled, "--others are here too? Wow, so we're really not alone!"

Midnight smiled, seemingly pleased he was relieved--or, at least, that's what she must've thought.

James sighed and helped himself calm his nerves by petting his prickly pet--which only caused Cacnea to hug him tighter, squeezing the life out of him and turning him almost as blue as his hair.

Midnight watched the two and snickered. "Are you gonna be okay there, Jimmy?"

"M-my name is James, a-and I will be fine... Cacnea does this all the time," James tried to assure without suffocating. "C-Cacnea, please, I-I can't breathe."

Cacnea finally let go and jumped to the ground, and James calmly picked the small Pokemon up into his arms. Cacnea looked up at Midnight and beamed innocently.

Midnight watched it for about two seconds before her face burst into a bright blush. "Oh my gosh, why is it so cute!? Why?! My one weakness is cuteness! It really turns me on!"

"EHHH?!" James squealed, turning red himself. He didn't want to have to deal with this for too long.

Oh goodness gracious, why... just... why?

* * *

Todoroki held a script in his hands, raising his right hand. Without any enthusiasm, he began reading right off the paper. " 'The battle between Dawn and Brock is about to begin. Each Trainer can use two Pokemon; when both Pokemon on one side of the team is knocked out, the remaining team will be the winner. There are no additional Pokemon or switch-outs, and the player can only call back a Pokemon once it has been defeated. Are the Trainers ready?' " He looked up to see Brock giving him a thumbs-up and Dawn nodding.

Kaminari leaned in to Kirishima's ear, just enough that Izuku could overhear him. "So... why was Todoroki picked to do this?"

Kirishima shrugged.

"We're good to go," Brock said.

"No need to worry!" Dawn exclaimed, using her signature catchphrase.

" 'Both parties reveal your Pokemon before the battle,' " Todoroki continued.

Brock had sent out the Pokemon Izuku had memorized as Sudowoodo and Happiny. Sudowoodo shook its hands and made maraca noises, while Happiny danced around, excited. Izuku turned back to look at Dawn, who sent out Piplup and Buneary.

"Now, I'm going to make this a lesson on teamwork and how NOT to sacrifice yourself while saving others," Brock announced. "Class is in session, folks!"

"Wait, that's what this is about?!" Dawn exclaimed.

"So basically, just a normal battle," Ash sighed.

"Yep," Brock said, smiling proudly. "But I'm watching you two; you and Midoriya both."

Izuku stiffened when Brock mentioned him. How did he know about Izuku's streak of self-harm for the sake of others? Did he even know? He didn't know, but he certainly knew that now was the time to take notes. He swiftly whipped out his notebook, pencil at the ready.

" 'Battle begin,' " Todoroki announced, completely deadpan as he stepped away from the battlefield. The class would have felt the deadpan rolling off of him, but they were too excited about the battle.

"Sudowoodo, use Double-Edge!" Brock commanded, pointing forward. The wood-like Pokemon charged forward, though Izuku couldn't tell who it was attacking at first. Then, Izuku saw Buneary jump out of the way with ease. If Izuku compared the Pokemon to quirk-using students in a real fighting situation, he could put Uraraka in the position of Buneary, and Piplup--well, that one was tough to match up, but the closest he could think of would maybe be Asui or Ashido.

Sudowoodo skidded to a halt, but Dawn called out an attack of her own.

"Buneary, Ice Beam! Piplup, use Bubble Beam!"

The two Pokemon charged up their own attacks, the rabbit Pokemon firing a surprising shot of pure ice, while the penguin Pokemon fired strange bubbles from its beak. The bubbles were surprisingly huge, and with the ice hitting them, they all froze solid in midair.

But they would all fall, wouldn't they?

"Piplup, now use Drill Peck! Buneary, Dizzy Punch!" Dawn called.

Was she going to attack the opposing Pokemon while the bubbles fell? No, that wasn't it. Those were physical attacks, from the sound of it. Buneary unrolled its ears and started punching rapidly with them (Izuku was a little bit estranged by this, but there were far stranger quirks out there, so it wasn't completely 'out there' by his world's standards), while Piplup spun and launched itself into every bubble, its beak growing and using the rotary force to rapidly increase its power. Izuku saw how that was very useful and took note of it.

The ice bubbles all shattered, raining broken pieces upon Happiny like shattered glass while Sudowoodo tried to run back and protect the young Pokemon. Happiny didn't look too bothered, though. It simply danced around and sang its own name happily.

Beside Izuku, Kacchan's fist crackled with explosions. "That little shit is way too fuckin' happy," he growled. Yes, the Pokemon dubbed "Happiny" is too "happy". That made sense.

Izuku slid away from the explosive teen subtly, hoping not to get involved in any outrage Kacchan was about to experience, though for the time being he seemed safe.

"Sudowood!" the Pokemon cried.

"Mimic, Sudowoodo! Protect Happiny!" Brock called.

Sudowoodo, unable to get to Happiny in time, used Mimic, which caused the strange antenna/branch-like... thing on its head to light up brightly, and when Sudowoodo parted its branch-hands, it had a ball of ice ready to shoot an Ice Beam. Sudowoodo used the Ice Beam to create an ice barrier around Happiny, catching Dawn off-guard.

But she recovered quickly from the sudden move. "Piplup, Drill Peck!" she called.

"Happiny, use Pound!" Brock retaliated quickly.

The blue Pokemon rocketed toward the pink one, and the young baby Pokemon broke its ice wall with ease before waddling forward and slapping Piplup before it could get in a good hit.

"Sudowoodo, Hammer Arm!" Brock called. "Finish it off!"

Sudowoodo's arm glowed bright white, but before it could do anything, Dawn called, "Dizzy Punch!" and Buneary caught Sudowoodo's arm with its ears.

Izuku recorded the whole battle in his head, muttering to himself about the differences in power, the strengths and weaknesses he had been trying to learn from Brock earlier that day, and the differences in size were certainly something to note as well. Most of them were around the same size, but Sudowoodo being an evolved Pokemon, it also presumably had more experience fighting and had a possibly stronger moveset, since it was clearly the bigger Pokemon. Of course, Brock had explained that bigger didn't always mean older or more experienced; that was often the case, but there were some very large Pokemon out there that were young as well, which Izuku didn't doubt. That was the case with animals as well, like elephants, but Pokemon just worked a bit--a LOT--differently from them.

The battle raged on. The teams of two would take turns going from offense to defense, and Izuku was starting to understand the attack patterns. Dawn tended to stick to a more offensive, visually appealing style of battle, while Brock's was more flexible, basing around the Pokemon itself, probably because he was a lot more experienced and knowledgeable as a Pokemon Trainer than Dawn, who was around Izuku's age, too.

"Happiny, use Secret Power!"

That was a new one. Happiny had only used Pound so far, leading Izuku to believe she didn't know any other moves. What could Secret Power possibly do?

Ash suddenly gasped harshly. "Everyone, duck for cover!" he exclaimed suddenly.

"Sudowoodo, Mimic!"

"Brock, you can't be serious!" Dawn gasped in shock.

"DUCK, EVERYONE!" Ash screeched. The whole class crouched for cover, Todoroki providing an ice wall to protect them. Yaoyorozu also provided a large metal shield, but it wasn't nearly enough to protect everyone. Kirishima stood out with his arms spread wide, skin hardened completely, while Mineta covered the wall in more gumballs (thank goodness for the nickname Ash had provided for the 'balls' from Mineta's head).

Aizawa wanted to do something, but Ash wouldn't let him.

"This is nuts!" Dawn exclaimed. "Piplup, Hydro Pump! Buneary, use Bounce!"

While Piplup began charging up a powerful blast of water, Buneary jumped high. Izuku moved to get a better look and noticed Buneary had actually clung to a building wall somehow and was climbing to get a careful shot at Happiny or Sudowoodo--probably Happiny, considering, as Izuku recalled, Sudowoodo was, in fact, a Rock-type, not a Grass-type, so it would be harder to hit.

Sudowoodo and Happiny finished charging and let their silver blasts of raw energy loose at Piplup, who came back with a stream of water that could rival that of a firefighter. The two blasts clashed, but overall, it looked like Piplup would lose pretty quickly.

Until Buneary got the jump on Happiny, that is, and Brock hadn't seen it coming. Happiny fell down and cried when Buneary hit it, and Sudowoodo stopped to try and comfort it, only to be overtaken by the strong blast of water and be taken out by Piplup.

Todoroki stepped out from behind the wall he had made. "Sudowoodo is out," he said, with just as little enthusiasm as before.

Brock recalled Sudowoodo and whispered to the Poke Ball before clipping it back to his belt.

"I forfeit," he said. "Dawn wins the match."

Dawn glanced at him with surprise. "Why would you use Secret Power in a place full of buildings? You knew it would become Flash Cannon, didn't you? That move is almost unpredictable!"

Brock sighed and picked up Happiny, who clung to Brock's love and support as it rubbed its aching head. Buneary just watched Happiny, with a shocked expression, probably surprised it wasn't knocked completely out with the hit from Bounce.

Sighing, Dawn recalled her Pokemon, but she didn't use the Poke Balls. "C'mon back, you guys," she told them.

Todoroki began melting the wall and Ash sighed in relief before stomping over to Brock and yelling at him for the reckless move.

When everything calmed down, finally, Brock retorted, "I wasn't being rash, Ash. Unlike you, I think my actions through. I knew I'd lose the battle the moment those two were sent out. Despite my experience, those two just have raw strength and even experience over my own Pokemon. Happiny is still a baby; she doesn't know not to cry during a battle, and she's too young for me to teach her that right now. Nevertheless, I was mostly trying to teach you and Midoriya a lesson."

Izuku flinched again when he heard his name being called. "M-me, sir?" he asked, voice quivering.

"Yes." Brock's gaze hardened when it landed on Izuku, intimidating him. "I heard from your teacher how you had become a 'problem child' of sorts. If you're anything like Ash, I know exactly what he means."

Ash flinched when he realized what Brock was talking about and sheepishly turned away, laughing nervously while his Pikachu glared at him. "Pika piiikaaa," the Pikachu muttered under its breath, probably in annoyed affirmation.

"...oh," Izuku muttered. "I-I see."

"So that's what this is," Dawn sighed. "You could've let me in on it; I would've helped."

"I wanted you to show off your natural flair for Double Battle teamwork," Brock explained further. "I wanted to prove that you can save others without causing harm to yourself. Remember when Sudowoodo used Mimic to protect Happiny with an ice wall? It was using what it had in its arsenal to protect Happiny without hurting itself. Of course, in the end, Sudowoodo ended up getting hurt trying to cheer Happiny up, but that was due to a mistake on my part. I'm not saying by any means that I'm perfect, but if you want to live long enough to save lives and actually be a Pro Hero full-time, you might wanna find ways to protect others that include protecting yourself. Ash, it's seriously a miracle you're still alive somehow," he added, annoyed. "If I have to keep watching you dive off cliffs for Pikachu or any other Pokemon, I swear I'm leaving and going to get my degree in Pokemon Nursing and you're not gonna see me again for like, four, five, maybe six more years."

Ash blushed, but said, "I make no promises," sheepishly. Pikachu's cheeks crackled with lightning, angered by Ash's response. "C'mon, bud, I can't just STOP saving Pokemon! That's not my style, you know it's not! I'd rather go down saving a Pokemon than live having done nothin'."

That was such a big mood for Izuku. "Y-y'know, I can kinda really relate to that," Izuku said to Ash. "Spiritually. I mean, that's how I feel almost all the time! It's why I really want to be a hero, whether I live long enough or not."

"But what you two fail to realize is that you have people who care about you. Maybe it's time you cared about them too," Brock said, walking off without another word.

Dawn realized the tension was thick and glanced between Ash and Brock frantically before running after the older man. "H-hey, Brock! Wait up!" Dawn exclaimed, following him out of the training building.

"Take some time to think about that for a while," Aizawa added, rubbing salt in the wound. "Class, we're heading back to the dorms. It's lights out as soon as we get there."

Ash and Izuku were the last to leave the 'scape, both talking to each other and consoling one another about what had just happened, why, and how to possibly fix it.

* * *

Jessie hadn't noticed it before, but when she managed to get her bearings straight, she realized it was nighttime. She didn't know what she would do without Pokemon at her side, but maybe things would be alright. Maybe things would turn out her way.

Of course, as soon as she said that, a pair of glowing red eyes manifested before her, causing her to screech in alarm.

"Jessie!" Thirteen cried out in alarm.

Jessie took a moment to realize that this was Yanmega, who hugged her with all six of its legs, excited to finally see someone familiar.

"Oh no! I-I'll save you!"

"No, no!" Jessie exclaimed, her voice muffled by the Bug Pokemon. "This is Yanmega. Yanmega, say hi to my Hero, Thirteen! They saved me from falling to my death!"

Yanmega let go of Jessie's face and flew over to Thirteen, hugging their helmet with all six of its legs, causing Thirteen to stumble backward. Jessie chuckled. "C'mon, Yanmega, let go now, dear."

Yanmega obeyed and Thirteen blinked, reorienting themself to being able to see again. "W-wow... so this is a Pokemon?"

"Yep!" Jessie declared proudly. "Yanmega is one of my favorite wittle sweethearts, isn't that wight?" she cooed, cuddling her adorable Pokemon once again. Yanmega buzzed its wings with pleasure.

"So if that's one Pokemon down, we're still searching for... Meowth, Wobbuffet, Cacnea, Carnivine, Chimecho, Seviper... six? Oh, and James. James isn't a Pokemon, but we're still searching for him."

"Yes," Jessie confirmed. "Didn't you say someone found James?"

"And Cacnea, but we've still gotta wait on the other Pokemon."

Jessie nodded. "I see. I hope we find them soon..."

Thirteen sighed. "For now, we have to meet up at the dorms. C'mon, I know the way. We can't risk taking public transport, so we'll have to walk."

Jessie sighed and pet Yanmega. "There's nothing we can do about that now. I've traveled a lot in my time. Let's get moving before someone spots myself and Yanmega."

Yanmega dropped a Poke Ball in Jessie's hands and, smiling, Jessie returned Yanmega to her device. "In case you're wondering," she added to Thirteen, gaining their attention. "THIS is a Poke Ball."

Thirteen saw that it was a capsule device and sighed in relief once more, allowing themself an airy laugh. "I'm sorry, Jessie, truly I am. It was unprofessional of me to go assuming things right off the bat."

Jessie allowed herself a good-natured laugh before walking alongside the Pro Hero. "Oh, it's no trouble at all. C'mon, we've got a ways to go, don't we?"

* * *

"Oy vey..." Meowth groaned. "We've gone and gaddah'd altogedah, but we can't find hide nor hair o' Jess or James..."

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet offered helpfully.

"Ssssssevipaahhhhh?" The snake Pokemon pointed forward, calling Meowth's attention. Meowth saw a Cacnea running around on the ground, and behind him--

"JAAAAMES!" Meowth cried happily. "James, we're so glad we found ya!"

James turned and gasped. "Meowth! Oh, chum, I'm so glad you're here! I was getting a little scared and worried!"

Meowth ran up to him and James caught him and brought him up in a big hug. But then Meowth realized why James was so uncomfortably pale.

The woman behind him should not have been wearing such a skimpy costume, but of course, she looked like she didn't care. Because... reasons?

"Yipes! How'd ya find dis broad?!" Meowth cried.

James hushed Meowth with a finger to his lips. "Be careful...!" He turned to glance at the woman behind him, shuddering. In a hushed whisper, he added, "This world is not only filled with super-weirdos, they're all super-goody-two-shoes weirdos too! We better keep it on the down low and make sure we regroup before calling 'land ho' and going home!"

"I noticed," Meowth whispered right back, his eyes glinting in the night. " 'Dere ain't no more Pokemon 'round here anyhow, and we ain't got no business where 'dere ain't any Pokemon to poach!"

"Not only that, but she said something about 'our friends', and she doesn't mean 'Y-J'."

"And 'dat would be...?"

"Why, Yanmega and Jessie! Who else?"

"Aye-aye. So we gotta be 'da no-good goodies, 'den, huh?"

"Yes. Follow my lead, Meowth. We'll be out of here in no time!" In a far louder voice, James smiled and spoke. "Oh, yes, Meowth, so glad to see you here! How can I thank you enough for finding all of our Pokemon? Oh, how lovely! Now, is everyone here? Sound-off, if you will!"

Seviper, Wobbuffet, Carnivine, and Chimecho all sounded off obediently, relieved to see a friendly face.

James nodded and counted everyone. "Good, I think that's everyone--wait, where's Yanmega?" he realized, blinking.

"Yanmega? Describe it," the woman said, looking at a little notepad. When did she have a notepad in her hands?

"It's green, and a Bug-type Pokemon. Its wings have transparent red tips, and its eyes are red and they glow in the dark," James relayed.

"Ah, the dragonfly. Thirteen already found it. It's with Jessie right now. C'mon, we gotta rendezvous before police find us. We're pulling a lot of strings for you weird Poke-people," the woman said, stuffing the notepad down her shirt. Meowth cringed.

"Didja hafta deal wit' her da whole time you's were lookin' for us?" Meowth whispered.

"Just keep me company. I don't think I can endure her 'being turned on' any longer!" James pleaded weakly.

Meowth's mouth stretched awkwardly, and he gave James a really weird look. But it seemed James had suffered enough already, so he sighed and nodded. " 'Aight."

James couldn't take much more of her. Meowth could tell James's mind was already turning into a puddle of dead, and the Hero--Midnight--'s presence wasn't helping in the slightest. In fact, it was the cause for the brain-melting. Meowth feared James wouldn't survive by the time they got there.

She literally seemed to have gotten "turned on" by almost anything! Cacnea being cute, Meowth talking, Seviper trying to defend James from her clutches, James asking her to go away and give him space (she kept calling him "feisty" and "hard-to-get", as though this was all a game of some kind!). Meowth could barely stand her anymore. At one point, he even tried attacking her with Fury Swipes, but she simply cut a piece of her clothing off and Meowth had fallen asleep before he landed a single scratch on her.

From what Meowth gathered, from when he woke up, her "quirk" thing was called Somnambulist, which was pretty much an equivalent to Sleep Powder, but all the time (according to James, at least).

Well, that was helpful.

Meowth really wished he'd known that before.

"Anyway, we're here," Midnight said finally. Under her breath, she added, "Weirdos."

Meowth's jaw could have hit the floor right then and there. The twerps were all gathered in a group with some other students, staring at James and Meowth with jarred expressions.

"TEAM ROCKET?!" Ash cried, Pikachu jumping from his shoulder and sparking lightning.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy dere, fellas!" Meowth exclaimed. "We ain't here to hurt ya! ...dis time."

Brock put a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Easy there, Ash. The mist must've taken them, too. It makes sense they'd be camping out by us; they're always trying to steal Pikachu, aren't they?" The last part piqued everyone's attention, and the Pro Heroes turned accusingly to the gang of uniformed Poke-thieves.

"Wait, steal?!" some green twerp exclaimed, as though the thought of crooks was new to them.

"All the time," Ash said, narrowing his eyes. "They're bad guys who steal people's Pokemon, and they've been after my Pikachu for years! They've followed me all over the globe in our world."

"Wait, hold up!" Meowth cried, waving his paws in surrender. "We ain't here for ya 'dis time, and 'dat's da whole truth! On my honor as a Team Rocket membah!"

"What honor?" Dawn asked, leaning down with a suspicious look in her eyes. Meowth's eyes turned to a weird kid with purple stuff in his hair ogling at Dawn from behind. Before Meowth could point it out, Ash kicked the kid back, sending him a death glare.

James nodded, unaware of the other exchange. "It's the truth! We got taken by that black mist, same as you! We couldn't outrun it, and it just came out of nowhere. We can't find--"

"--There you are!"

James, Meowth, and the rest of the Pokemon all turned back around. "Jessie!" James and Meowth exclaimed excitedly, tackling her in a big hug. The students watched, dumbfounded, but Ash still seemed distrustful. Meowth slipped out from the humans' grasp and turned back around to find Pikachu approaching him.

"Pika, pikapi, pika, pi, chupika?"  _So, your humans got trapped here too?_  Pikachu asked, seemingly open-minded about the whole thing. Meowth took the opportunity to get on the Pika-pal's good side. For now.

"Yeah," Meowth sighed. "We ain't lookin' for a fight dis time 'round. We just wanna get back home so we can get back to our usual, stealin' you and losin' to ya and whatnot... Somethin' wit' 'Heroes' and 'quirks' and whatever's happenin'--I just want outta here!"

Pikachu nodded in understanding before returning to Ash and relaying the information to his human. Pikachu's "human" sighed and gave Meowth a suspicious look. Meowth had never been scared of the twerp before, but now he was starting to sweat a little.

"Everyone. In the dorms, now. You three--" came an unfamiliar, darker voice that was referring to the twerps. "--are going to explain who these guys are and whether or not we should help them out."

Ash turned and gave Team Rocket the harshest glare Meowth thinks he's ever seen. The twerpette pulled his arm, beckoning him to come along and tear his gaze away. Brock didn't show much emotion, though.

Meowth slumped. If their fate was in the hands of the twerps, they were doomed.

He would never end up being the boss's lap cat again. Goodbye, cruel worlds...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sylvia: Hi guys, it's me again! I know it's been a while, but real life can get ya sometimes! My sib and I have been real busy! If you ever see a mysterious person titled "Ike" in these little afternotes, I want you to know that Ike and Ikaya are the same person (Ike comes from Ikaya and it all depends on what my sib wants, because Ike sounds more neutral, though they can go by either)~~--Oh! Also, quick disclaimer I never made before--the art does not belong to me. I found it on the Internet, and I don't own My Hero Academia or Pokemon. The art and the characters all belong to their respective owners.
> 
> Ike: I swear to god if someone starts calling me Ikea... *pulls out knife* ^-^ You're dead.
> 
> Sylvia: O_O OOOOKAYYYY, LET'S NOT HAVE ANY BODIES IN OUR GOOD ARCEUSIAN FANFIC ("Arceusian from Arceus")
> 
> Ike: The joke's not funny if you have to explain it... (¬_¬')
> 
> Sylvia: *Aggressively shushes* sssssSSSSHHHhhHHHHhhHasldkjfnas *touches face*
> 
> Ike:  d o n ' t   t o u c h   m e
> 
> Also us: *arguing about censoring the titles of the first two chapters*
> 
> Sylvia: Uhhh what do you guys think? Should we or should we not censor the titles of the first two chapters? They were Pokemon-related, and Bakugou wasn't there in those chapters. In my opinion, we should--
> 
> Ike: But they've aged up already. I think it's funnier with the swearing. What do you guys think we should do? Comment your suggestions!


End file.
